mmm 


Jlif  t 
am  .  i 


^mm 


mm 


LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

University  of  California. 

QIKT   OK 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894; 
Accessions  No.S^/O^^     Class  No. 

' 

^TU^t^^h 


/j^k/c&ZC 


\ 


V 

* 


> 


,y 


V     N 


\ 


\ 


V  v\ 


^ 


\ 


DANIEL, 


A   MODEL    FOR  YOUNG   MEN 

§1  Stem  (tf  States, 


BY   THE 


REV.     W.    A.    S  C  0  T  T,   D.  D. 

NEW    ORLEANS. 


NEW  YORK: 

ROBERT    CARTER   &   BROTHERS, 

285    BROADWAY. 

1854. 


^A  Of  TEtw/^ 

TJWBr 


$7*7*- 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1854,  by 
ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


TOBITTS  COMBINATION-TYPE, 

181  William  st 


PRINTED    BT 

JOHN  A.  GRAY 
95  &  97  Cliff  St. 


DEDICATION 


To  the  Young  Men  of  the  South  and  South-West,  and  especially  of 
New  Orleans,  this  volume  is  most  respectfully  inscribed,  as  an  expres- 
sion of  the  author's  admiration  of  their  enterprise  and  noble  bearing 
in  business.  And  in  making  this  dedication,  lie  cannot  withhold  his 
fervent  prayer,  that,  like  Daniel,  they  may  by  an  enlightened  piety  and 
patriotism  serve  their  country  and  their  God  faithfully,  and  attain  at 
last  to  everlasting  life  and  glory. 


RECOMMENDATORY  NOTICE. 


BY  W.   B.  SPRAGUE,   D.  D. 


The  Lectures  that  compose  this  volume,  have  manifold  claims 
od  the  patronage  of  the  Christian  public.  That  these  claims  will 
be  acknowledged  and  honoured,  in  due  time,  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt ;  but  meanwhile  it  may  not  be  amiss  just  to  advert  to  some 
of  the  grounds  on  which  they  rest. 

In  the  first  place,  these  Lectures  are  invested  with  great  interest, 
in  consideration  of  the  class  to  whom  they  are  addressed.  They  are 
young  persons,  who  have  just  entered  the  great  school  of  life  ;  whose 
characters  are  yet  but  partially  formed,  and  around  whom  Christian 
philanthropy  would  naturally  desire  to  throw  every  influence,  favour- 
able to  their  intellectual  and  moral  culture,  with  reference  to  both  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  that  which  is  to  come.  They  are  young  men — in 
whom  are  prospectively  bound  up  both  the  civil  and  Christian  well- 
being  of  society ;  on  whom  it  will  devolve  a  few  years  hence  to  settle 
great  problems  of  weal  or  woe,  that  will  tell  on  the  destinies  of  the 
world.     They  are  more  especially  the  class  of  young  men  who  reside 


iv  recommendatory  notice. 

in  cities;  where,  more  than  anywhere  else,  the  tempter  holds  his 
throne  j  where  the  opportunities  for  doing  good  or  evil  are  multiplied 
indefinitely  j  insomuch  that  it  takes  but  little  time  for  a  young  man  in 
these  circumstances  to  work  himself  into  a  model  of  Christian  activity, 
or  a  monster  of  vice  and  crime.  Any  well-directed  effort  then  to  form 
the  characters  of  young  men,  especially  in  large  cities,  to  virtue  and 
piety  and  honourable  usefulness,  is  worthy  of  all  praise,  and  will  be 
sure  not  to  lose  its  reward. 

In  the  next  place,  the  portion  of  Scripture  which  forms  the  subject 
of  these  Lectures,  is,  on  many  accounts,  one  of  remarkable  interest.  In 
its  historical  details,  nothing  can  exceed  it — it  records  events  which 
stand  out  in  the  world's  history,  and  form  some  of  the  most  impressive 
illustrations  of  the  Divine  character.  Its  prophecies  also  are  worthy 
of  the  most  profound  and  earnest  inquiry  \  though,  as  these  Lectures 
were  designed  to  be  of  altogether  a  popular  character,  it  was  not  fitting 
that  they  should  include  any  elaborate  investigation.  Then  the  char- 
acter of  Daniel  is  one  of  the  purest  and  most  exalted  of  which  even 
the  inspired  record  has  preserved  an  account.  In  respect  to  intelli- 
gence, industry,  integrity,  consistency  and  devotion,  he  shone  with 
almost  unequalled  lustre ;  and  there  is  no  condition  of  prosperity,  or 
adversity,  or  temptation,  in  which  a  young  man  can  be  placed,  but 
that  the  example  of  Daniel,  duly  considered,  may  either  shed  some 
light  upon  the  path  of  duty,  or  suggest  some  motives  for  diligently 
pursuing  it. 

There  will  be  little  difference  of  opinioD,  it  is  presumed,  on  the 
question,  whether  the  author  has  done  justice  to  his  noble  theme.  No 
intelligent  and  candid  reader  will  doubt  that  he  has  brought  out  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit  with  great  clearness  and  force.    He  has  discussed  a 


RECOMMENDATORY    NOTICE.  T 

great  variety  of  questions — historical,  theological  and  practical,  that 
naturally  suggest  themselves  ;  and  has  shown  himself  at  every  point 
thoroughly  at  home.  One  very  important  feature  of  the  work  is,  that 
it  furnishes  incidentally  a  vast  amount  of  evidence  of  the  Divine 
authority  of  the  Scriptures — a  point  upon  which  young  men,  especially 
at  this  day,  need  to  be  enlightened  and  strengthened,  in  order  that 
they  may  resist  the  insidious  and  multiform  assaults  of  skepticism. 
Dr.  Scott  has  left  upon  every  page  of  his  work  the  impress  of  a  vigor- 
ous, discriminating,  independent  mind.  Without  any  affectation  of 
originality,  he  has  his  own  way  of  saying  things ;  and  a  terse,  striking 
and  effective  way  it  is.  "Without  apparently  thinking  of  the  graces  of 
composition,  his  style  is  always  perspicuous  and  manly,  and  sometimes 
radiant  with  beautiful  imagery.  You  feel  that  you  are  in  contact  with 
a  mind  of  bold  and  lofty  impulses,  and  with  a  heart  that  is  in  unison 
with  every  measure  for  the  promotion  of  human  virtue  and  happiness. 
There  is  yet  one  other  circumstance  to  which  I  cannot  but  allude, 
that  seems  to  me  to  bespeak  for  these  Lectures  a  more  than  common 
share  of  attention — I  refer  to  the  fact  that  Dr.  Scott's  position  as  a 
minister  in  New  Orleans,  rendered  it  peculiarly  fitting  that  he  should 
perform  just  such  a  service  as  this :  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  is 
any  other  place  in  the  United  States  in  which  he  could  speak  to  so 
large  a  number  of  young  men,  especially  those  who  are  thrown  out  of 
the  range  of  the  endearing  associations  of  home  ;  and  the  instructions 
and  counsels  which  he  would  address  to  the  young  men  of  his  own 
charge,  must  of  course  be  equally  adapted  to  others  of  the  same  class 
in  similar  circumstances.  And  I  cannot  forbear  to  add  that,  to  my 
own  mind  at  least,  the  work  gathers  additional  interest  from  the  fact 
that  its  author  was  prevented  from  giving  it  the  revision  he  intended, 


VI  RECOMMENDATORY    NOTICE. 

by  having  been  kept  so  constantly  in  contact  with  sickness  and  death 
during  the  last  summer.  His  readers,  while  they  will  be  well  con- 
tented to  take  the  work  as  it  is,  will  hardly  fail  to  have  their  gratitude 
awakened,  that  such  a  life  as  his  was  preserved  amidst  such  self-deny- 
ing and  perilous  labours. 

There  is  one  circumstance  pertaining  to  the  history  of  this  pub- 
lication which  I  cannot  forbear  to  note,  as  strikingly  illustrative  of.  the 
care  which  Providence  often  takes  of  our  concerns,  through  indirect 
and  apparently  undesigned  instrumentalities.  The  publishing  of  this 
work  was  originally  undertaken  by  the  Harpers ;  and  the  sheets,  as 
they  were  printed,  were  sent  to  me,  by  the  author's  request,  with  a 
view  to  my  writing  an  introductory  paragraph  or  two,  after  I  had  read 
them.  As  the  printing  was  nearly  finished,  I  had  written  all  that  I 
thought  necessary,  and  had  forwarded  it  to  the  publishers  on  the  very 
day  before  the  fire  swept  away  their  immense  establishment.  Not 
only  my  humble  contribution,  but  the  MS.  of  the  Lectures,  and  even 
the  stereotype  plates,  which  were  nearly  completed,  perished  in  the 
conflagration  ;  and  the  only  copy  of  the  Lectures  that  remained  was 
that  which  had  been  sent  to  me  in  the  proof-sheets,  and  which,  by  the 
merest  accident,  had  escaped  destruction.  I  congratulate  myself  on 
having  been  thus  instrumental  in  the  preservation  of  a  work,  the  good 
effects  of  which  I  confidently  expect  will  reach  far  beyond  the  present 
generation. 

It  is  due  to  myself  to  state  that  the  only  consideration  that  has 
seemed  to  me  to  justify,  in  any  degree,  the  writing  of  these  paragraphs, 
is  that  the  respected  author  of  this  work  resides  in  a  part  of  the  coun- 
try so  distant  from  this,  that  there  may  be  some  circles  at  the  North, 
and  especially  in  New  England,  in  which  he  is  not  so  familiarly  known 


RECOMMENDATORY    NOTICE.  VU 

as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  an  introduction  from  some  one  more 
immediately  identified  with  this  region.  It  was  this  circumstance,  I 
am  sure,  that  drew  from  him  the  request  with  which  I  have  now  com- 
plied ',  and  if  what  I  have  written  shall  procure  an  additional  reader  to 
the  book,  I  shall  feel  quite  satisfied.  I  will  only  add  that  he  and  I 
have  never  yet  seen  each  others'  faces ;  nor  will  he  have  read  this  brief 
notice,  till  the  printer  has  rendered  it  useless  for  either  his  judgment 
or  his  modesty  to  suggest  corrections.  I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity 
thus  to  give  him  the  hand  of  fraternal  fellowship  even  a  thousand  miles 
off ;  and  I  pray  God  to  cause  his  course  as  an  author  as  well  as  a 
Christian  minister,  to  shine  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 

Albany,  March  2, 1854. 


[UNIVBRSITr 

PREFACE 


It  has  been  my  custom  for  more  than  ten  years  to  devote  my 
Sabbath  evenings,  during  the  winter  and  spring  months,  to  young 
men.  On  such  occasions  I  have  delivered  above  one  hundred  and 
fifty  different  discourses.  During  this  portion  of  the  year  I  have 
to  preach  three  discourses  each  week,  the  Sabbath  evening  discourse 
being  one  of  them.  The  lectures  now  presented  to  the  public  are 
not  a  selection  out  of  these  hundred  and  fifty,  but  the  Sabbath 
evening  series  of  the  last  season.  It  will  be  understood,  therefore, 
that  these  lectures  were  prepared  from  week  to  week  amid  the 
pressure  of  the  duties,  cares,  and  anxieties  inseparable  from  a  large 
city  congregation.  They  were  listened  to  by  crowded  assemblies, 
and  with  increasing  interest  to  the  close  of  the  series.  When  these 
lectures  were  promised  to  the  publishers,  it  was  my  intention  to 
revise  them  during  the  leisure  moments  of  summer.  But  it  is  well 
known  that  early  in  June  the  yellow  fever  became  epidemic  in  our 
city,  and  has  continued  to  prevail,  with  perhaps  unparalleled  fatality 
up  to  the  present  time.  More  than  ten  thousand  persons  have  died 
in  this  city  since  its  ravages  began  in  June ;  and  among  them, 
many  of  the  precious  youth  who  listened  to  these  lectures  have 
fallen  its  victims,  and  are  now  sleeping  their  long  sleep  with  the 
dead,  in  a  soil  that  knows  not  the  dust  of  their  fathers,  and  from 
which  the  trumpet  of  the  last  day  alone  can  awaken  them.  It  may 
be  readily  supposed  that  in  filling  my  pulpit,  and  in  visiting  the 


PREFACE.  '     ? 

sick,  in  burying  the  dead,  and  in  attempting  to  instruct,  encourage, 
and  comfort  the  living  and  the  bereaved,  and  alleviate  the  miseries 
of  the  suffering  poor,  I  have  had  but  little  time  or  heart  for  the 
work  of  revision.  And  now  with  the  autumn  a  new  campaign 
opens,  that  imperatively  requires  day  by  day  all  my  time  and  all 
my  strength.  These  lectures,  then,  must  be  published  as  they  are, 
or  not  at  all.  With  the  humble  hope  that  they  may  do  good,  I 
have  ventured  to  send  them  to  the  publishers. 

Whoever  looks  into  this  volume  will  see  that  I  do  not  enter  upon 
the  prophecies  of  Daniel.  If  it  were  desirable  for  me  to  give  the 
public  my  views  of  them,  it  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this 
effort  to  do  so.  The  plan  of  these  lectures  requires  that  they  should 
be  read  with  an  open  Bible,  and  that  the  portions  of  Scripture 
indicated  in  each  lecture  should  be  read  at  the  same  time  with  the 
lecture.  One  great  object  in  view,  in  this  and  in  all  my  labors  as 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  is  to  give  prominence  to  the  Scriptures 
of  God,  which  are  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  concerning 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  are  intended  to  lead  us  to  a  saving  ap- 
prehension of  His  Truth  and  Grace.  /  am  persuaded  that  the 
young  men  required  for  our  times  must  be  thorough  Bible  men. 
They  must  be  brought  up  on  the  pabulum  of  Bible  truth.  And  I 
know  of  no  more  effectual  method  of  imparting  such  truth  to  them 
than  by  explaining  and  enforcing  the  doctrines,  precepts,  and 
duties  set  forth  in  the  lives  of  Bible  heroes. 

The  authors  that  have  fallen  in  my  way,  and  to  which  I  am 
more  or  less  indebted  for  help  in  preparing  these  lectures,  are  the 
following:  Prselectiones  Joannis  Calvini  in  Librum  Prophetiarum 
Danielis,  published  in  1571 ;  Diodati's  Notes;  Works  of  Plutarch 
and  Josephus ;  Orton's  Exposition ;  Layard's  Nineveh ;  Vaux's 
Nineveh  and  Persepolis ;  Herodotus ;  .Rich's  Babylon  and  Perse- 
polis  ;  Fletcher's  Assyria  ;  Kitto's  Bible  Illustrations  ;  Gausen's  Lec- 
tures ;  White's  Provideuce,  Prophecy,  and  Popery  ;  and  especially 


PREFACE. 

do  I  desire  to  acknowledge  my  obligations  to  the  first-named  above, 
the  immortal  Calvin,  and,  next  to  him,  to  Prof.  Stuart,  for  his  Com- 
mentary on  Daniel,  and  to  Hengstenberg,  for  his  work  on  the 
Genuineness,  <fcc,  and  to  Tregelles  on  Daniel,  and  to  the  lectures 
of  Dr.  Cumming,  of  London,  on  Daniel.  As  in  the  delivery  of 
these  lectures,  it  was  my  earnest  endeavor,  with  God's  help,  to  do 
good  to  the  multitudes  of  young  men  that  attended  my  ministry, 
so  now  they  are  committed  to  the  press  with  the  hope  that  by  the 
Divine  blessing  they  may  be  useful  in  directing  such  to  the  proper 
performance  of  their  duties  to  their  country,  their  fellow-men,  and 
their  ever  blessed  Creator ;  and  to  Him,  through  Jesus  Christ,  be 
all  the  praise.     Amen. 

W.  A.  Scott. 
New  Orleans,  20th  September,  1853. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  I. 

PAGH. 
SUPERIORITY   OP  BIBLE  BIOGRAPHY  FOR  GIVING  LESSONS  TO  THE 

YOUNG   MEN    OF  THE   NINETEENTH    CENTURY. 17 

LECTURE  U. 

DANIEL    A   TRUE   BIBLE    PROPHET. 35 

LECTURE  ILL 

DANIEL   AS   A   MAN A    MODEL. 56 

LECTURE  IV. 

PRINCIPLES    AND    LESSONS   FROM   THE    EUPHRATES 74 

LECTURE    Y. 

THE  LOST  DREAM 98 

LECTURE  YL 

THE   DREAM   RECOVERED 116 

LECTURE  YII. 

THE    FIERY    FURNACE 138 

LECTURE  YIH. 

CAVILS   AT   THE    KING'S   PROCLAMATION 150 

LECTURE  IX 

LESSONS   FROM   THE    KING'S   DREAM 183 

LECTURE  X. 

GOD'S    UNIVERSAL   SCEPTRE 201 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

PACE 

LECTURE  XI. 
belshazzar's  feast  :  its  lessons  to  young  men 220 

LECTURE  XII. 

WEIGHED    AND   WANTING 247 

LECTURE  XIII. 

DANIEL   THREATENED    WITH   THE   LION'S   DEN 269 

LECTURE  XIY, 

DANIEL    CAST   INTO   THE    LIONS*   DEN 291 

LECTURE  XY, 

FAITH   TRIUMPHANT 309 

LECTURE  XVI, 

DANIEL,    A    STUDY   FOR   YOUNG   MEN    AWAY   FROM    HOME 326 


LECTUBES  ON  DANIEL. 


LECTURE  I. 


"  To  be  ignorant  of  the  lives  of  the  most  celebrated  men  of  antiquity,  is 
to  continue  in  a  state  of  childhood  all  our  days." — Plato. 

"  Social  life  is  the  aggregate  of  all  the  individual  men's  lives  who  con- 
stitute society.     History  is  the  essence  of  innumerable  biographies." 

SUPERIORITY    OF  BIBLE  BIOGRAPHY   FOR   GIVING   LESSONS    TO 

YOUNG   MEN   OF   THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY. 

i 

Rom.,  xv.  4:  For  whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime  were  written 
for  our  learning,  that  we,  through  patience  and  comfort  of  the  Scriptures, 
might  have  hope. 

Scriptures  suited  for  all  Ages. — Reflection  on  the  Period  of  early  Youth. — The 
Bible  a  Picture-gallery. —  William  von  Humboldt. — Bible  to  be  read  Earnestly. 
— Superiority  of  Example  illustrated. —  Origen,  Cicero. —  Wellington,  Webster. 
— Field  open  to  all. — No  possible  Excuse  for  low  Attainments  in  personal 
Piety  and  Christian  Character. — Fountain-men  wanted  in  our  Times. 

The  apostle  alludes  here  to  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures, and  assures  us  that  they  were  not  intended  merely 
for  the  Jews,  nor  for  those  generations  in  which  they  first 
appeared,  but  also  for  the  instruction  of  succeeding  gene- 
rations of  mankind.  That  we,  through  patience  and 
comfort  of  the  Scriptures — that  is,  through  those  remark- 
able examples  of  patience  exhibited  by  the  saints  and 
3 


18  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

followers  of  God,  whose  history  is  given  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  by  seeing  the  comfort  which  they  derived  from  God, 
in  their  sufferings  for  the  truth  and  in  maintaining  their 
piety  in  the  midst  of  a  wicked  world — might  have  hope 
— that  we  shall  be  upheld  and  blessed  as  they  were,  since 
we  worship  the  same  God  and  adhere  to  the  same  faith 
with  them.  The  apostle,  in  writing  to  the  Hebrews,  uses 
the  same  allusion.  In  the  eleventh  chapter  to  the  He- 
brews, he  enumerates  a  host  of  Old  Testament  worthies, 
and  then  says  :  Wherefore,  seeing  we  also  a/re  compassed 
about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside 
every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  heset  us, 
and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  hefore  us, 
looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith. 

"  Whoever/'  says  Sir  Charles  Bell,  "  has  sat  on  a  sunny 
stone  in  the  midst  of  a  stream,  and  played  with  the 
pebbles,  and  osier-twigs,  and  running  waters,  must,  if  he 
have  a  soul,  remember  that  day,  should  he  live  a  hundred 
years  ;  and  to  return  to  such  a  spot  after  twenty  years  of 
a  struggling  life  in  the  great  world  of  man's  inventions, 
is  a  still  greater  epoch.  In  age  to  go  back  thus  to  child- 
hood— to  Nature  in  her  simple  guise — to  look  upon  the 
same  scenes,  and  again  to  behold  the  same  trees,  still  in 
their  youth  and  freshness,  and  the  same  clear-running 
waters  and  soft,  sweet-looking  grass-plots  that  we  looked 
on  in  our  dewy  youth — it  is  impossible  to  do  this,  and 
not  feel  something  of  the  deep  marvelousness  of  this  ever- 
changing  life,  and  something  of  an  earnest  longing  for 
clearer  communings  with  the  unseen  world.  If,  with  such 
reflections  we  seem,  on  the  one  hand,  to  be  little  better 


A  CITY  OF  TOMBS— BIBLE  GALLERY.  19 

than  corks  floating  on  the  stream,  still,  on  the  other  hand, 
this  very  deep  consciousness  of  earth's  unsatisfying  na- 
ture preaches  to  us  that  this  stream  of  life  may  bear  us 
onward  and  upward  to  glory,  honor,  and  immortality. 

Perhaps  most  of  you,  after  years  of  absence,  have  re- 
visited the  scenes  of  earlier  youth ;  or,  if  not  the  scenes 
of  your  own  childhood,  you  have  visited  the  birth-places 
and  residences  of  great  men  ;  and  every  remarkable  ob- 
ject, every  street  and  corner,  tree,  stone,  and  running 
brook,  seemed  to  have  a  tale  to  unfold,  and  to  bring  to 
your  recollection  some  circumstance  important  to  your 
own  or  their  times,  and  you  seemed  to  yourself  to  be 
walking  in  a  city  of  tombs. 

The  Bible  is  just  such  a  city  of  tombs.  It  has  nothing, 
however,  of  the  gloomy  sadness  of  tombs  about  it.  It  is 
fragrant  as  the  spicy  groves  of  "Araby  the  Blest !"  It  is 
a  historical  gallery  that  stretches  across  the  waste  of  far 
off  centuries,  and  delivers  us  from  false  conjectures,  wild 
fablings,  and  vague  theories.  By  opening  up  a  system 
of  pure  Theism,  it  emancipates  the  world  from  degrading 
superstitions ;  and  by  revealing  the  origin  of  our  race, 
and  incidentally  communicating  their  dispersion  over 
the  globe,  we  are  taught  that  all  men  are  brethren.  At 
Hampton  Court  there  is  a  gallery  of  the  beauties  of 
Charles  the  First  and  Second;  at  Holyrood  House,  in 
Edinburgh,  there  is  a  gallery  of  all  the  kings  of  Scot- 
land ;  and  in  the  City  Hall  of  Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 
there  is  a  gallery  of  all  the  emperors  of  Germany ;  and 
in  Versailles,  in  the  collection  of  pictures,  statues,  and 


20  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  like,  which  is  dedicated  to  all  the  glory  of  France,* 
a  large  suite  of  rooms  is  devoted  to  likenesses  of  the 
marshals  of  France.  Now  we  have  the  privilege,  young 
men,  of  opening  a  gallery  containing  more  beauty,  more 
sprightliness,  more  intellect,  more  courage,  and  more  sub- 
limity of  character,  a  thousand  times  told,  than  Hampton 
Court,  Holyrood  House,  Frankfort,  and  Versailles  can 
show.  Our  gallery  of  paintings  begins  with  the  first 
man  and  woman,  and  comes  down  from  Eden  to  Patmos 
— a  long  array  of  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  apostles, 
sages  and  kings,  and  their  mothers,  wives,  and  daugh- 
ters. The  pictures  are  drawn  by  hands  as  unerring  as 
the  rays  that  now  give  us  our  daguerrotypes.  And  these 
pictures,  while  life-like  and  flesh-colored,  are  always 
salutary  in  their  influence.  They  feed  no  idle  and  licen- 
tious thoughts.  They  awaken  the  intellect  and  sanctify 
the  affections.  They  regulate  the  passions,  and  point  to 
themes  ever  elevating  and  noble.  They  save  us  from 
much  that  is  evil,  and  inspire  us  with  earnest  desires  for 
that  which  is  good  and  holy.  These  are  the  pictures  our 
fathers  and  mothers  looked  on  for  so  many  years,  until 
they  assumed  their  likeness,  and  have  gone  to  their  com- 
munion above.  "When  traveling  in  a  foreign  land,  it  was 
always  a  delightful  thought  to  me  that  my  beloved  ones 
at  home  might  look  at  the  same  sun  and  moon,  and  gaze 
on  some  of  the  same  stars  that  shone  on  me ;  and  when- 
ever I  caught  sight  of  the  ocean,  there  was  relief  to  the 
sadness  of  separation,  in  reflecting  that  its  waters  washed 

*  "  A  toutes  les  gloires  de  la  France." 


FAMILY  PORTRAITS.— HUMBOLDT.  21 

the  shores  of  my  own  native  land.  So  there  is  something 
affecting,  deeply  affecting,  in  the  thought  that  the  Bible 
portraits,  which  have  been  made  by  the  direction  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  are  our  family  pictures — our  household  orna- 
ments and  furniture  from  generation  to  generation.  The 
good  in  every  age  before  us  have  admired  and  imitated 
the  faith  of  Abraham,  the  patience  of  Job,  and  the  bene- 
volence of  the  New  Testament. 

A  profound  scholar  and  great  statesman,  "William  von 
Humboldt,  minister  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  says  of  the 
Scriptures,  that  "  among  the  strongest,  purest,  and  finest 
tones  in  which  the  voice  of  antiquity  has  reached  us,  may 
be  reckoned  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  we 
can  never  be  enough  thankful  that  in  our  translation  they 
have  lost  so  little  of  their  reality  and  strength  of  expres- 
sion." He  speaks  of  Luther's  translation  from  the  He- 
brew into  the  German  language,  which  is,  indeed,  one  of 
the  finest  translations  ever  made.  Happily  for  us  and 
our  children,  the  same  simplicity  and  strength  charac- 
terizes our  English  version.  u  I  have  often,"  continues 
the  Prussian  statesman,  "  reflected  with  pleasure  on  the 
existence  of  so  much  that  is  exalted,  rich,  and  varied,  as 
is  contained  in  the  Bible,  in  the  books  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments ;  and  if  this  be,  as  is  very  frequently  the 
case,  the  only  book  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  yet  have 
they  in  this  a  compendium  of  human  thought,  history, 
poetry,  and  philosophy,  so  complete,  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  feeling  or  a  thought  which  has  not  its 
echo  in  these  books.  Neither  is  there  much  in  them 
which  is  incomprehensible  to  a  common,  simple  mind. 


22  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

The  learned  may  penetrate  deeper,  but  no  one  can  go 
away  unsatisfied.  ''* 

The  Bible,  my  young  friends,  is  indeed,  as  your  honored 
parents  have  taught  you,  the  gracious  gift  of  God  to  man- 
kind. The  Holy  Scriptures  are  an  invaluable  blessing  to 
our  race.  They  bear  upon  their  front  and  within  them- 
selves the  indubitable  marks  of  their  divine  Original. 
The  attempts  of  unbelievers  to  weaken  or  destroy  the 
evidences  in  their  favor,  have  only  brought  out  the  more 
clearly  the  many  "infallible  proofs"  that  they  were 
"  written  by  inspiration  of  God."  But  while  the  out- 
works of  Eevelation  have  been  ably  defended,  too  few 
have  searched  out  with  honesty  and  diligence  the  trea- 
sures deposited  therein.  It  is  something  to  be  well  estab- 
lished in  the  faith — to  receive  the  Bible  as  the  "Word  of 
God,  but  so  far  as  a  personal  salvation  is  concerned,  we  are 
no  better  than  the  heathen,  if  we  remain  ignorant  of  what 
the  Bible  contains.  A  crude,  undigested  notion  of  divine 
things  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  way  to  receive  God's  re- 
velation to  us  for  our  salvation.  We  may  assent  to  the 
truth,  excellence,  and  importance  of  the  Scriptures,  yet 
not  give  our  serious  attention  to  know  what  they  teach, 
whereby  we  may  glorify  God  and  enjoy  Him  forever. 
Curiosity  alone  might  be  deemed  sufficient  to  prompt  us 
to  a  diligent  perusal  of  the  sacred  Yolume.  But  our  duty 
in  this  matter  is  not  left  to  the  promptings  of  mere  curi- 
osity.    We  are  commanded  by  the  very  highest  authority 

*  Eeligious  Thoughts  and  Opinions  of  William  von  Humboldt.  Boston : 
1843. 


BIBLE  BIOGRAPHIES  WRITTEN  FOR  YOU.  23 

to  search  the  Scriptures.  Nor  can  we  remain  in  ignorance 
of  the  sublime  knowledge  they  reveal  without  a  manifest 
contempt  of  God.  Nothing  should  be  more  interesting 
to  us  than  the  will  of  God  which  is  revealed  to  us,  and 
requires  of  us  unfeigned  obedience.  Who  is  the  Lord, 
that  I  should  serve  Him  ?  What  would  He  have  me  do  % 
May  I  obtain  His  favor  ?  Should  I  not  dread  His  anger  ? 
These  are  questions,  which  to  us,  as  sinners  hastening  on 
to  death  and  judgment,  it  is  of  very  serious  consequence 
we  should  have  answered  in  a  proper  manner.  But  these 
are  questions  which  the  Bible  alone  fully  and  faithfully 
resolves.  It  is  something  to  insist  on  our  duty  to  read 
the  Bible  from  its  beauties  of  language,  the  surprising 
facts  it  relates,  the  grandeur  of  its  representations,  and 
the  sublimity  of  its  doctrines  ;  but  the  highest  recommen- 
dation for  its  study  is  :  That  it  is  the  Word  of  the  Living 
God,  which  is  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation. 
"  But  that  which  stamps  upon  the  Scriptures  the  highest 
value,"  says  Bishop  Porteus,  "  that  which  renders  them, 
strictly  speaking,  inestimable,  and  distinguishes  them 
from  all  other  in  this  world,  is  this,  that  they,  and  only 
they,  contain  the  words  of  eternal  life.  In  this  respect, 
every  other  book,  even  the  noblest  composition  of  man, 
fails  ;  they  cannot  give  us  that  we  most  want,  and  what  is 
of  infinitely  more  importance  to  us  than  all  other  things 
put  together — eternal  life."  But  lest  we  should  fail  to 
see  the  practical  tendency  of  Eevealed  Truth,  much  the 
greatest  part  of  it  is  taken  up  with  the  records  of  history, 
and  the  description  of  remarkable  lives.  Nor  are  these 
to  be  passed  over  carelessly.     They  are  written  for  our 


24:  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

admonition.  1.  The  narrative  of  striking  facts  and  the 
delineation  of  celebrated  characters,  is  perhaps,  of  all 
methods  of  instruction,  the  most  effective.  Important 
truths  are  hereby  conveyed  to  us  in  the  most  pleasing 
form,  and  deep  impressions  are  made  upon  the  mind  be- 
yond any  thing  that  mere  dry  doctrines  or  precepts  can 
produce.  No  one  is  ignorant  of  the  power  of  example 
both  for  good  and  evil.  Such  is  man's  nature,  that  he  is 
more  guided  hj  the  practice  of  others  than  by  his  own 
reason.  A  child  writes  more  easily  after  a  copy  than  by 
rule.  Men  are  prone  to  imitate  whatever  they  see  done, 
be  it  good  or  bad,  emulating  the  one  and  aping  the  other. 
Men  love  to  be  in  society.  You  know  the  proverb  says : 
"As  well  be  out  of  the  world  as  out  of  the  fashion." 
Hence  men  will  go  any  whither  in  company,  presuming 
on  defense,  support  and  justification  in  the  countenance 
of  their  fellow-men.  Hence  men  will  do  as  a  mob  what 
they  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  do  as  individuals. 
Hence  it  is  more  difficult  to  make  men  behave  with  gra- 
vity and  decorum  in  large  assemblies,  even  in  delibe- 
rative bodies,  legislative  and  ecclesiastical,  than  in  their 
social  circles  or  as  individuals.  They  satisfy  their  own 
minds,  and  justify  their  doings  partly  by  dividing  the 
responsibility,  and  partly  by  pleading  the  authority  of 
others.  They  are  prone  to  think  that  laudable,  allowable, 
or  at  least  excusable,  for  which  such  precedents  can  be 
alleged. 

2.  Examples  inform  and  impress  the  mind  in  a  man- 
ner more  compendious,  easy,  and  pleasant  than  precepts 
or  any  other  instrument  or  way  of  discipline.     Precepts 


EXAMPLES  THE  BEST  TEACHERS.  25 

are  abstract,  naked,  powerless — without  a  hold  on  either 
the  fancy,  sense,  or  memory  ;  like  the  shadows  of  a  pass- 
ing cloud,  too  subtle  to  make  any  great  impression,  or 
leave  any  remarkable  footsteps.  But  example  comes 
home  with  irresistible  power  and  strikes  out  its  likeness. 
Precepts  are  but  a  skeleton,  dry,  meagre,  lifeless,  exhibit- 
ing nothing  of  person,  place,  time,  manner,  or  indivi- 
duality— things  in  which  chiefly  consist  the  flesh  and 
blood,  the  colors  and  graces,  the  life,  and  soul,  and  idea- 
lity of  both  men  and  things.  These  are  the  very  things 
that  please,  affect,  and  move  us ;  and  example  is  their 
embodiment.  It  gives  us  the  body  in  its  full,  and  pro- 
per, and  beauteous  proportions,  preserved  amid  trials 
and  in  spite  of  temptations — life  as  it  is  and  must  be, 
just  in  the  same  kind  of  world  we  now  live — life  in  mov- 
ing tableaux — transforming  a  notional  universality  into 
the  reality  of  individual  existence.  Precept  is  the  man 
chiseled  out,  standing  mute  in  the  awful  majesty  of  a 
statue  of  Praxiteles ;  example  is  the  man  with  the  life- 
speaking  eye,  the  grace  of  living  motion,  and  the  lips 
parted  with  instructive  lessons.  The  most  successful 
professors  of  arts  and  sciences  explain,  illustrate,  and 
confirm  their  general  rules  and  precepts  by  particular 
examples.  Mathematicians  demonstrate  their  theorems 
by  schemes  and  diagrams ;  orators  hack  their  enthy- 
memes  with  inductions  ;  philosophers  urge  the  reason 
and  nature  of  things,  and  then  throw  themselves  aback 
on  the  practice  of  Socrates,  Zeno,  and  such  like  person- 
ages. Politics  is  more  easily  and  clearly  drawn  out  of 
veritable  history  than  out  of  books  De  Republica.    Plato, 


26  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

More,  Sidney,  and  Harrington,  had  never  dreamed  their 
republics  and  commonwealths  in  the  fairy  land  of  Uto- 
pia if  they  had  had  the  example  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  reality  before  them.  Artificers  describe  mo- 
dels, and  set  patterns  before  their  learners  with  greater  suc- 
cess than  if  they  merely  delivered  accurate  rules  and  pre- 
cepts to  them.  A  man  can  more  readily  learn  to  build  by 
looking  at  and  carefully  examining  the  parts  and  frame 
of  a  well-contrived  house  while  it  is  constructing,  than 
he  can  by  ever  so  studious  an  inquiry  into  the  rules  of 
architecture  ;  or  he  may  learn  to  draw  by  setting  a  good 
picture  before  him,  than  by  merely  speculating  upon  the 
laws  of  perspective  ;  or  to  write  fairly  by  imitating  one 
good  copy,  than  by  listening  to  a  thousand  oral  directions. 
Nor  is  the  case  at  all  different  when  these  principles  are 
applied  to  morals.  Seneca*  says  "  that  the  crowd  of  phi- 
losophers which  followed  Socrates  -derived  more  of  their 
ethics  from  his  manners  than  his  words." 

It  is  said  of  Origen,  the  most  learned  man  of  his  age, 
the  author  of  a  Hexapla — a  man  that  employed  seven 
amanuenses  at  once — "  that  he  recommended  religion 
more  by  his  example  than  by  all  he  wrote."  One  good 
example  may  represent  more  fully  and  clearly  the  nature 
of  virtue  than  a  thousand  eloquent  descriptions  of  it.  It 
is  good  in  God  to  give  us  food ;  but  it  is  a  still  higher 
proof  of  His  benevolence  to  give  us  a  taste  for  and  a 
relish  in  our  food,  so  that  we  enjoy  it.  It  is  a  proof,  both 
of  Divine  wisdom  and  goodness,  that  we  have  a  Keve- 

*  "  Plus  ex  moribus,  quam  ex  verbis  Socratis  traxit. — Ep.  ii. 


VIRTUES  ILLUSTRATED  IN  THE  BIBLE.  27 

lation  of  the  Divine  will ;  but  it  is  still  a  higher  proof  of 
Supreme  goodness  that  so  much  of  the  Divine  will  is 
given  to  us  illustrated  by  examples.  We  have  in  the 
Bible  examples  of  all  the  Christian  virtues.  Is  it  faith 
we  have  to  acquire  ?  Then  we  have  but  to  look  at 
Abraham.  Is  it  wisdom,  constancy,  humility,  and  reso- 
lution ?  Behold  Moses.  Is  it  zeal,  patience,  perseve- 
rance, and  piety?  Then  look  at  Peter,  Paul,  and  John. 
Is  it  self-denial,  courage,  steadfastness,  integrity,  and 
devotion  to  high  and  ennobling  principles  of  duty  that 
we  seek?  Then  we  have  only  to  study  the  histories 
of  Joseph,  John  the  Baptist,  Nehemiah,  and  Daniel. 

3.  Good  examples  are  •powerful,  because  they  per- 
suade and  incline  us  to  follow  them  by  plausible  author- 
ity. That  prudent,  wise,  and  pious  persons  do  any  thing, 
is  itself  a  very  probable  argument  that  we  are  under 
obligations  to  do  the  same  thing ;  and  if  we  err,  it  is  a 
great  comfort  to  be  found  in  such  company.  "  Will  you," 
says  the  great  Eoman  orator,  "  will  you  commemorate 
to  me  the  examples  of  Scipio,  and  Cato,  and  Leilas,  and 
say  they  did  the  same  thing  ?  Though  the  thing  dis- 
pleases me,  yet  I  cannot  withstand  the  authority  of  such 
men :  their  authority  is  so  great,  that  it  can  cover  even 
the  suspicion  of  a  fault."* 

In  a  word,  examples  incite  our  passions  and  impel  us 
to  duty.  They  raise  hope,  influence  courage,  provoke 
emulation,  urge  up  timidity,  awaken  curiosity,  and  affect 
the  fancy,  and  set  in  motion  all  the  springs  of  activity. 

*  Cicero  in  Terrem. 


28  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

The  examples  of  the  Bible  instruct  and  warn,  encourage, 
admonish,  and  comfort.  They  teach  principles  and 
duties.  They  show  us  what  to  believe  and  what  to  do, 
that  we  may  inherit  eternal  life. 

It  is  by  reading  and  studying  the  lives  of  those  who 
have  distinguished  themselves  above  the  rest  of  mankind, 
that  we  may  both  amuse  and  instruct  ourselves.  History 
has,  therefore,  done  well  in  immortalizing  those  men  who 
have,  by  their  talents  or  genius,  or  by  their  enterprise 
and  benevolence,  done  much  for  the  well-being  of  their 
fellow-men.  The  Supreme  Being  sends  into  the  world, 
from  time  to  time,  and  in  every  age,  men  who  distin- 
guish their  day  by  eminent  sag  vices  done  to  their  gene- 
ration and  to  posterity.  The  private  and  public  lives  of 
such  men  should  be  carefully  treasured  up,  and  perused 
with  universal  interest.  God,  of  his  goodness,  has  so 
constituted  our  world,  that  great  benefactors  to  our  race, 
though  dead,  continue  to  speak  to  us.  Although  all  that 
is  mortal  of  Daniel  "Webster  is  gone  to  the  grave,  yet,  in 
his  own  immortal  words,  He  still  lives  ! 

But  if  biographical  studies  in  general  are  thus  greatly 
valuable,  and  especially  to  the  young,  they  become  much 
more  so  when  they  are  applied  to  the  lives,  characters, 
and  principles  of  holy  men,  of  divinely  inspired  men — 
such  as  prophets  and  apostles,  and  lives  and  characters 
written  by  them.  Between  ordinary  biography  and  that 
of  the  Bible  there  is  this  remarkable  distinction.  In 
perusing  the  lives  of  eminent  statesmen  and  warriors,  or 
of  those  whose  names  have  been  celebrated  in  the  paths 
of  science,  philosophy,  or  literature,  we  usually  derive 


PATRIOTISM  AND  PRINCIPLES  NOT  PATENTED.  29 

all  the  benefit  which  they  are  calculated  to  confer,  when 
we  have  thereby  gained  a  better  acquaintance  with  the 
varieties  of  human  character  and  the  springs  of  human 
action — when  we  have  gathered  some  gleanings  of  infor- 
mation upon  the  subjects  or  modes  of  life,  and  splendid 
achievements  with  which  they  were  most  familiar,  or  for 
which  they  were  renowned.  "We  do  not  seem  to  have 
the  courage  to  make  an  application  of  their  glorious 
deeds,  and  discoveries,  and  principles,  to  ourselves.  "We 
never  dream  that  we  ourselves  may,  through  their  exam- 
ple and  agency,  become  warriors,  statesmen,  artists, 
poets,  philosophers,  or  philanthropists.  "We  may  ad- 
mire, and  not  attempt  to  imitate.  It  was  therefore 
gratifying  to  see,  in  the  remarks  of  Lord  John  Eussell  in 
Scotland,  and  of  Lord  Brougham  in  England,  on  the 
death  of  Wellington,  that  they  both  took  occasion  to 
remind  their  countrymen,  and  particularly  young  men, 
that  while  Providence  might  deny  to  them  the  circum- 
stances that  could  make  them  heroes,  like  the  great 
duke,  still  it  was  in  their  power  to  imitate  him  in  the 
essential  elements  of  all  true  greatness — purity  of  prin- 
ciple and  fervent  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  his  country. 
Integrity  and  patriotism  are  virtues  not  patented  to  any 
sect  or  age.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  duty 
of  selecting  the  available  virtues  of  the  great  should  be 
so  generally  overlooked.  But  even  were  it  otherwise, 
biography  in  general  falls  far  short  of  Christian  bio- 
graphy. When  the  faith,  or  the  piety,  or  the  benevo- 
lence, or  the  endurance  of  trials  for  the  truth's  sake,  or 
the  noble  deeds  of  a  disciple  of  Jesus  is  the  object  of  our 


30  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

admiration,  we  ought  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  yielding 
our  esteem  and  approbation — we  ought  to  follow  in  his 
footsteps,  since  our  safety  and  happiness,  as  well  as  our 
duty  to  ourselves  and  our  country,  lie  in  the  same  path. 
Two  important  particulars  are  worthy  of  being  men- 
tioned here  and  remembered ;  namely,  that  the  field  is 
open  to  all,  and  that  special  divine  energy  is  promised  to 
all.  that  will  trust  in  God,  and  walk  in  the  way  of  his 
commandments.  Each  one  of  us  is  invited  to  walk  in  the 
same  way  of  life  in  which  the  patriarchs,  prophets, 
apostles,  and  martyrs  have  travelled  home  to  God  and 
glory.  Each  one  of  us  is  freely  invited  to  come  and  take 
of  the  fountain  of  God's  sanctifying  grace.  God's  word, 
moreover,  warns  us  that  all  the  by-paths  of  man's  own 
devising  communicate  with  the  broad  way  that  leadeth 
to  destruction. 

Again,  in  studying  Bible  biographies,  we  should  be 
careful  to  separate  the  peculiarities  of  individual  char- 
acter and  experience,  and  the  extrinsic  circumstances 
by  which  these  may  have  been  called  into  action,  from 
the  grand  general  outlines  which  characterize  the  whole 
family  of  the  good  and  pious.  In  natural  temperament 
and  external  circumstances  there  may  be  a  great  dis- 
tance between  men  of  the  same  age,  and  much  more 
between  different  ages  and  countries.  But  all  the  pious 
are  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus.  All  the  virtues,  in 
every  age,  and  under  all  circumstances,  are  alike  in 
their  adherence  to  truth  and  attachment  to  principle.  In 
reading  the  lives  of  prophets  and  apostles,  "  holy  men  of 
old,"  and  of  eminent  servants  of  God  in  modern  times, 


GOD  HELPS  HUMAN  EXERTION.  31 

we  must  guard  against  sheltering  ourselves  in  our  own 
littleness,  indolence,  and  impiety  by  saying  to  ourselves 
that  if  we  had  been  endowed  with  equal  talents,  or  had 
been  placed  in  similar  circumstances,  we  should  have 
developed  equal  heroism,  and  have  shone  with  equal 
light.  It  is  not  so.  Circumstances  aid  great  men,  hut 
do  not  make  them.  On  the  contrary,  great  men  make 
circumstances.  They  lay  a  contribution  on  every  thing 
around  them,  and  make  it  lie  at  their  feet,  obedient 
to  their  will.  As  there  is  no  situation  in  life  in  which 
we  may  not  serve  God — no  trial  under  which  his  grace 
cannot  impart  peace  and  strength  to  enable  us  to  endure 
and  conquer,  so  no  circumstances  can  be  found  so  fa- 
vorable to  the  development  of  genius  or  of  piety,  as  that 
its  rise  or  progress  can  be  ascribed  to  mere  chance  or 
caprice,  or  to  any  other  source  than  God's  help  in  unison 

WITH  HUMAN  EFFORT. 

We  must,  then,  guard  against  the  excuse  for  our  sloth, 
and  for  our  low  attainments  in  the  knowledge  of  divine 
things,  that  we  are  not  inspired  as  were  the  prophets  and 
apostles.  True,  we  are  not,  but  the  mere  gift  of  inspi- 
ration was  not  always  connected  with  saving  grace.  Saul 
was  among  the  prophets,  but  did  not  yield  the  fruits  of 
sincere  obedience  to  God.  Balaam  prophesied,  and  was 
slain  in  battle  by  the  people  of  God.  Isaiah,  and  Paul, 
and  John  were  eminently  pious,  not  because  they  were 
inspired,  but  because  they  were  partakers  of  divine 
grace  ;  and  it  is  in  their  experience  of  pardoning  mercy, 
and  attainment  of  personal  holiness,  and  not  in  prophe- 
tic phrensy,  that  we  are  to  be  like  them.      True  piety  is 


UFI7E-.. 


32  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  same  in  all  ages.  There  is  but  one  Gospel,  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism.  Christ  is  the  essential  figure  of 
all  time,  past,  and  to  come.  Before  the  Incarnation,  the 
pious  looked  forward  to  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God ; 
since  the  Advent,  the  pious  look  back  to  Calvary,  to  the 
lifting  up  of  the  Son  of  Man.  The  Gospel  is  alike  ad- 
dressed to  the  learned  and  to  the  unlearned — to  the  Sab- 
bath-school child  and  the  believer  of  fourscore  years — to 
the  soldier  on  the  tented  plain,  the  operative  in  the  mill, 
and  the  slave  in  the  field — to  the  dwellers  in  palaces  and 
the  tenants  of  cottages.  It  is  God's  message  of  mercy 
and  good- will  to  all  men,  of  every  tribe,  kindred,  tongue, 
people,  and  nation,  under  the  whole  heaven.  Are  the 
truths  of  God's  word,  then,  precious  to  you,  as  they  were 
to  the  servants  of  God  in  olden  time  ?  The  work  of  the 
Spirit  is  in  every  believer,  a  renewal  of  the  whole  man 
after  the  image  of  God,  enabling  him  to  die  unto  sin  and 
to  live  unto  righteousness.  The  varieties  of  individual 
characters  produced  by  any  outward  circumstances  are 
but  the  distinctions  of  time,  and  shall  pass  away  when 
time  shall  be  no  more.  It  is  of  infinite  moment,  then, 
that  Christ  be  formed  in  your  heart,  the  hope  of  glory. 
There  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  receive  the 
grace  of  God — no  reason  why  you  should  not  be  among 
the  number  of  the  faithful,  who,  having  "  turned  many 
to  righteousness,  shall  shine  as  the  stars,  for  ever  and 
ever." 

"  When  a  man  turns  to  the  Lord,"  says  an  old  Jewish 
writer,  "  he  is  like  a  fountain  filled  with  living  water,  and 
rivers  flow  from  him  to  men  of  all  nations  and  tribes.'' 


YOU  MUST  BE  FOUNTAIN  MEN.  33 

It  is  just  such  men,  my  young  brethren,  you  are  called  to 
be.  Your  age  and  your  country  call  for  fountain-men — 
men  of  deep  original  experience  in  the  grace  of  faith  and 
in  the  knowledge  of  God's  Word.  God  has  given  you 
bodily  constitution,  health,  and  nerves,  the  education  and 
the  style  of  mind,  and  the  social  and  political  status  in 
the  world,  which  with  fixity  of  thinking  and  sincerity  in 
praying  will  make  up  such  an  aggregate  of  character  as 
will  be  a  blessing  now,  and.  an  hon#*  forever.  Your 
country  and  your  God  require  of  you  to  be  men  like 
Joshua  and  Caleb,  to  whom  the  giants  of  Canaan — all 
the  adversaries  of  truth — shall  he  bit  as  bread.  We  want 
men  of  large  minds  and  warm  hearts — men  of  sound 
understanding  and  of  sincere  faith ;  then  "  shall  our  peace 
be  like  a  river,  and  our  righteousness  like  the  waves  of 
the  sea." 

The  development  of  character  which  we  have  to  study 
in  the  biographies  of  the  Bible  speaks  volumes  of  en- 
couragement and  hope,  warning  and  admonition.  Like 
the  pillar-cloud  of  the  Hebrews,  one  side  is  bright  and 
glory-revealing,  while  the  other  is  dark  and  full  of  terror. 
The  lives  of  God's  servants  tell  us  there  is  a  beauty  and 
excellence  which  the  wicked  do  not  prize  nor  seek  to 
obtain — that  there  is  a  blessedness,  both  here  and  here- 
after, in  which  the  ungodly  have  no  interest ;  tell  us  there 
is  danger  around  the  unbelieving  and  impenitent,  doubt 
and  darkness  before  them,  while  they  are  without  the  ark 
of  safety  or  without  the  light  of  hope.  But  the  lives  of 
Old  Testament  worthies,  and  of  all  true  Christians,  speak 
to  us  also  the  language  of  encouragement.     They  tell  us 


34:  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

there  is  forgiveness  with  God,  that  He  may  be  feared — 
that  the  grace  of  God  is  sufficient  for  all  the  trials  of  life 
— and  that  Heaven  makes  amends  for  all  the  sorrows  of 
earth. 


DANIEL'S  PERSONAL  HISTORY.  35 

•  LECTUEE  H. 

DANIEL   A   TRUE   BIBLE   PROPHET. 
On  Dan.,  viii.,  1-3;  Ezek.,  xiv,  14,  and  xxviii.,  3. 

Personal  History  of  the  Prophet  true. — Expositors  of  Daniel. — The  Scope  and 
Definiteness  of  his  Prophecies. — Sir  Isaac  Newton  a  patient  Student  of  his 
Writings. — Porphyry  refuted. — Mysteries  and  Miracles  no  Objection. — Proofs 
of  the  Authentictiy  of  tlie  Book  of  Daniel. — Daniel  is  its  professed  Author. — 
Monumental  Proof. — The  Book  was  received  by  the  Jews. — Josephus1  Testi- 
mony.— Incidental  Allusions,  such  as  Mode  of  capital  Punishment,  reckoning 
of  Time,  Style  of  Houses,  Presence  of  Females  at  Festivals,  personal  Incidents, 
Food,  Change  of  Name,  and  the  Language  of  the  Book  itself. —  Convenience 
of  small  Change. — Beady  to  give  an  Answer  for  your  Hope. — Mans  per- 
sonal Responsibility  to  God. — Ihe  Atonement  of  the  Bible  Mans  only  Hope. 

Among  the  Hebrew  prophets,  Daniel's  celebrity  is  next 
to  that  of  Moses.  There  are  none  whose  wisdom,  and 
dexterity,  and  elevation,  and  influence  have  been  more 
celebrated  among  the  Jews.  It  would  be  as  reasonable 
to  deny  the  personal  existence  and  reign  of  David  or 
Solomon,  as  to  deny  either  the  personal  history  or  extra- 
ordinary prophetic  character  of  Daniel.  Yet  there  are 
not  wanting  those  who  deny  both.'  And  this  is  the  more 
remarkable  when  we  consider  the  evidence  in  support  of 
his  personal  history.  There  is  no  more  reason  to  doubt 
that  such  a  distinguished  man,  a  Jewish  exile,  lived  and 
flourished  at  Babylon  during  the  captivity,  than  there  is  to 
doubt  the  existence  of  Nebuchadnezzar  himself.  Indeed, 
as  a  mere  matter  of  history,  the  proof  in  favor  of  Daniel 
is  stronger  than  that  in  favor  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  None 
of  the  Greek  historians  mention  such  a  king  as  Nebuchad- 


36  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

nezzar  of  Babylon.     But  surely  this  is  not  sufficient  proof 
that  there  never  was  such  a  king. 

Recent  discoveries  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  even 
if  we  set  aside  all  traditions  and  all  ancient  historv  on 
the  subject,  have  brought  to  light  the  absolute  certainty 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  king  as  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
that  he  lived  and  did  just  as  the  Bible  says  he  did.  The 
Jews  have  always  considered  Daniel  as  one  of  their 
greatest  prophets.     See  Josephus,  Antiq.,  lib.  x. 

But  the  only  authentic  source  whence  we  $an  learn  the 
true  history  of  Daniel  is  the  book  which  bears  his  name. 
There  are  many  apocryphal  narratives  respecting  him, 
but  they  belong  to  a  later  period,  and  are  not  trustworthy. 
The  simple  profession  of  the  author  of  the  book  before  us, 
that  he  was  Daniel,  a  prophet  in  the  Babylonish  capti- 
vity, is  prima  facie  proof  that  this  is  the  fact.  The  onus 
jprobandi  may  be  fairly  thrown  on  those  who  deny  it. 
How  do  we  know  that  a  monument  pointed  out  to  the 
traveler  at  Rome  is  the  arch  of  Titus  \  The  monument 
speaks  for  itself.  It  says  it  was  erected  in  honor  of  Titus 
after  his  destruction  of  Jerusalem.*  The  inscription  it- 
self, standing  on  a  public  edifice,  is  proof  of  the  fact  it 
relates.  And  we  know  from  history  and  tradition,  and 
the  nature  of  the  monument  itself,  that  it  is  both  genuine 
and  authentic.  It  is  true,  antiquarians  are  sometimes 
deceived.     Inscriptions  are  sometimes  forged.     But  this 

*  The  inscription  on  the  arch  of  Titus : 

Senatus. 

popvlvsqvk  romanys. 

Divo.  Tito.  Divi.  Vespasiani.  F. 

Yespasiano.  Augusto 


AUTHORS.— PRINCIPLE  OP  GOD'S  GOVERNMENT.         37 

proves  the  general  principle  of  evidence  which  I  insist 
upon  to  be  true.     "  If,"  as  Tregelles  has  well  stated  it, 
"  ancient  inscriptions  had  not  been  admitted  as  carrying 
with  them  much  weight  of  evidence,  forgeries  would 
not  have  been  attempted.     The  existence  of  counterfeit 
coins  proves  that  coins  in  general  pass  current  as  genu- 
ine."    You  are  aware  that  men  of  thorough  acknow- 
ledged piety  and  scholarship,  such  as  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
Bishop  Newton,  Faber,  and  Calvin,  devoted  a  considera- 
ble portion  of  the  best  part  of  their  lives  to  the  elucida- 
tion  of  the   book  of  Daniel.     The  most  recent  works 
on  this  book  that  I  am  acquainted  with  ai*e  from  the 
pens  of  the  late  Professor  Stuart,  of  Andover,  Dr.  dim- 
ming, of  London,  Dr.  Tregelles,  of  England,  and  the 
works  of  Professors  Hengstenberg  and  Havernich,  of 
Germany.     I  have  named  these   authors,  because,  as 
many  of  you  are  blessed  with  a  liberal  education,  you 
may  be  inclined  to  devote  some  portion  of  your  time  to 
mental  and  moral  improvement  by  giving  your  attention 
to  some  of  them.     The  late  Moses  Stuart's  "  Commentary 
on  Daniel,"  Dr.  Tregelles'  "  Defense  of  the  Authenticity 
of  the  Book  of  Daniel,"  and  Hengstenb erg's  "  Genuine- 
ness of  Daniel,"  leave  but  little  more  to  be  said  on  the 
authority  of  this  book  as  a  true  part  of  the  inspired 
"Word.     Hengstenberg  and  Stuart  state  and  answer  the 
objections  that  have  been  made  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
book  that  seem  to  deserve  refutation  ;  and  Tregelles  sets 
forth  the  arguments  that  establish  the  claims  of  the  book 
of  Daniel  to  its  place  in  the  blessed  Yolume.     All  ex- 
positors of  the  Bible  have  testified  to  the  excellence  of 
the  book  of  Daniel.     In  at  least  one  point  of  view,  it  is 


38  LECTURES  OX  DANIEL. 

regarded  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  books  of  the 
whole  Bible  ;  namely,  as  an  exposition  of  the  great  prin- 
ciples on  which  God  governs  the  world,  and  as  a  running 
commentary  in  advance  upon  the  history  of  things  and 
nations  that  are  now  passing  over  the  stage  of  time.  This 
book  comprehends  so  many  events,  and  extends  through 
so  many  successive  ages,  that  it  presents  to  us  an  astonish- 
ing proof  of  divine  Providence  and  of  divine  Eevelation. 
Who  but  the  omniscient  and  omnipotent  God  could  thus 
declare  the  things  that  shall  be,  with  their  times  and  their 
seasons  ?  Surely  he  who  could  thus  foretell  the  dispensa- 
tions of  Providence  must  have  been  an  honest  and  truth- 
ful servant  of  Him,  whose  dominion  is  an  everlasting 
dominion,  and  whose  kingdom  endureth  from  generation 
to  generation.  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  "who  explored  the 
firmament  with  unwearied  wing,  and  made  an  apocalypse 
of  the  stars,"  felt  that  he  was  sounding  a  greater  depth, 
and  rising  to  a  loftier  height,  when  he  sat  down  a  patient 
student  of  this  book,  to  ascertain  the  mind  and  meaning 
of  the  spirit  of  God  therein,  anoVmake  it  plain  to  less 
gifted  souls,  than  when  engaged  in  his  loftiest  astro- 
nomical studies.  There  is  no  part  of  divine  prophecy  so 
definite,  so  reduced  to  facts  and  figures,  as  the  book  of 
Daniel.  No  prophecy,  if  false,  could,  therefore,  be  more 
easily  exposed.  And  yet  there  is  no  part  of  the  divine 
Volume  that  has  given  more  trouble  to  the  unbelieving 
Israelite  and  the  skeptic  than  the  prophecies  of  Daniel. 
The  Israelite  sees  plainly  that  if  Daniel's  chronology  be 
of  God,  then  the  Messiah  must  have  come,  and  that  it  is 
in  vain  to  look  for  another  ;  and  the  infidel  only  gets  over 
the  difficulty  by  denying  that  there  is  any  divinity  in  the 


PORPHYRY  REFUTED.  39 

Old  or  New  Testament.  Genesis  and  Malachi,  Matthew 
and  Revelation  are  alike  to  him.  He  receives  none  of 
them  as  true,  although  he  is  not  able  to  give  any  satisfac- 
tory solution  of  their  origin,  character,  preservation,  and 
influence.  In  the  face  of  the  most  astonishing  body  of 
evidence  that  has  ever  been  produced  to  prove  any  thing, 
in  favor  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  he  sets  them 
aside  as  fables  and  fictions  without  any  authority.  And 
in  rejecting  what  God  has  said  as  unworthy  of  credence, 
he  believes  more  than  he  is  required  to  believe  in  receiv- 
ing the  Bible  as  the  "Word  of  God.  Infidels  are,  after 
all,  the  most  superstitious  and  the  most  credulous. 

One  of  the  earliest  opponents  of  Daniel  and  of  Chris- 
tianity was  Porphyry,  who  saw  so  clearly  the  fulfillment 
of  part  of  his  prophecies,  that  he  declared  the  book  must 
have  been  written  by  some  one  who  lived  in  the  days  of 
Antiochus  Epiphanes — that  is,  that  the  prophecies,  so 
called,  are  but  narratives  of  events  fulfilled.  The  answer 
to  this  is  very  simple  and  easy.  The  book  of  Daniel  is 
found  not  only  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  just  as  we  have 
Isaiah,  Ezekiel,  and  the  other  prophecies  and  histories, 
dating  back  to  the  time  when  it  is  believed  they  were 
respectively  written,  but  also  in  the  Greek  translation 
from  the  Hebrew,  called  the  Septuagint,  which  was  made 
and  scattered  throughout  the  Greek  empire  at  least  one 
hundred  years  before  Antiochus  Epiphanes  was  born. 
Josephus  and  the  whole  Jewish  nation  are  witnesses  of 
this  fact. 

If  it  should  be  said  there  are  too  many  mysteries  and 
miracles  in  this  book,  we  answer,  there  are  mysteries  in 
it  that  we  are  not  able  to  solve,  nor  shall  we  now  attempt 


40  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

to  explain.  It  is  not  my  purpose,  in  the  present  course 
of  Lectures,  to  enter  upon  any  discussion  of  the  prophe- 
cies of  Daniel,  but  mainly  to  pursue  the  narrative,  so  far 
as  it  shall  suit  our  design — which  is,  to  present  the  pri- 
vate and  public  life  of  Daniel,  as  far  as  we  can  ascertain 
what  it  is,  as  a  model  for  the  young  men  of  our  age  and 
country — taking  also,  as  we  proceed  with  it,  such  a  survey 
of  the  monuments  and  histories  of  those  times  and  countries 
as  may  elucidate  the  divine  record,  or  serve  to  prove  its 
genuineness  and  authenticity.  The  manifestations  of  God 
found  in  this  book  seem  to  have  been  necessary  for  the 
peculiar  times  and  trials  of  his  servants.  The  Jews  were 
then  in  captivity,  their  temple  was  destroyed — their 
sacred  rites,  their  sacrifices,  and  their  ceremonies  had 
ceased.  Their  priests  and  their  Levites  were  gone.  It 
would  seem,  therefore,  natural  to  expect,  when  all  the 
outward  signs  of  their  religion  were  thus  removed,  that 
God  should  manifest  more  of  himself  to  them,  in  order 
to  keep  up  the  light  of  religion  in  the  absence  of  its  out- 
ward and  visible  ordinances.  We  may  sum  up  some  of 
the  main  points  that  prove  the  authenticity  of  the  book  of 
Daniel  and  set  forth  his  claims  to  be  considered  as  a  true 
prophet,  in  the  following  order : 

1.  The  hook  of  Daniel  was  received  as  authentic  by  the 
Jews  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  before  the  Macca- 
bean  Age.  Its  place  in  the  canon  was  never  disputed  by 
them.  As  it  existed  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  so  we  find  it 
translated  with  the  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
into  Greek,  by  the  learned  Jews  of  Alexandriaj  about 
three  hundred  years  before  Christ.  Accordingly,  we 
have  it  in  the  Septuagint  translation  to  this  day.     Jose- 


HEBREWS  AND  CHRISTIANS  RECEIYE  THIS  BOOK.       41 

phus,  the  learned  and  distinguished  Jewish  historian, 
bears  honorable  testimony  to  the  character  of  Daniel  and 
the  authenticity  of  this  book.  The  point  of  his  testimony 
which  I  cite  relates  to  the  authority  of  the  book  called 
the  Prophecy  of  Daniel.  Josephus,  speaking  of  this 
book,  says,  "  All  these  things  did  this  man  leave  behind 
him,  writing  as  God  had  showed  to  him ;  so  that  those 
who  read  his  prophecies,  and  see  how  they  have  been 
fulfilled,  must  be  astonished  at  the  honor  conferred  by 
God  on  Daniel."  This  is  the  testimony  of  the  distin- 
guished Jewish  historian,  who  was  bitterly  hostile  to 
Christianity.  In  his  antiquities,  he  shows  how  each  pre- 
diction of  Daniel  had  been  fulfilled  in  regard  to  the 
Babylonian  empire,  and  the  Persian  and  the  Medean. 
And  if  it  be  asked  why  he  does  not  also  speak  of  the  ful- 
fillment of  Daniel's  prophecies  concerning  the  last  of  the 
four  great  monarchies,  we  answer:  Josephus  was  a  ser- 
vant of  the  Roman  empire,  and  he  had  not  the  courage 
to  proclaim  that  Daniel's  prophecies  relating  to  Rome, 
the  then  existing  empire,  would  be  as  certainly  fulfilled 
as  they  had  been  concerning  the  three  former  empires. 

Again,  2.  Jesus  Christ  and  His  apostles  expressly  re- 
fer to  Daniel  as  one  of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament. 
In  Matthew,  xxiv.  15,  the  Saviour  says  :  "  When  ye  shall 
see  the  abomination  of  desolation,  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the 
prophet,  stand  in  the  holy"&c.  This  allusion  of  our 
Lord  proves  that  He  and  the  Jews  of  his  time  regarded 
Daniel  as  a  real  prophet,  just  as  they  did  Moses,  and 
David,  and  the  other  prophets,  and  proves  also  that 
Daniel  prophesied  of  the  judgments  of  God  upon  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  Holy  Land  subsequent  to  the  crucifixion  of 


42  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  Messiah.  In  like  manner,  there  are  allusions  scat- 
tered through  the  New  Testament  which  clearly  point  to 
events,  and  things,  and  expressions  contained  in  the  book 
of  Daniel,  though  the  prophet  himself  is  not  named. 

We  find  the  apostle  saying  of  some  of  the  Old  Testa 
ment  hero  saints,  "  By  faith  they  stopped  the  mouths  of 
lions,"  and  "  quenched  the  violence  of  fire."  These  are 
evidently  allusions  to  Daniel's  deliverance  from  the  lion's 
■den,  and  to  the  escape  of  his  three  friends,  Shadrach, 
Meshach,  and  Abednego,  who  were  thrown  into  the  fiery 
furnace  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  had  not  even  their 
garments  singed  by  the  flame.  These  allusions  to  Daniel 
and  his  prophecy  show  that  the  book  of  Daniel  was 
known  to  our  Lord  and  his  apostles,  and  received  by 
them  as  inspired. 

Time  at  present  does  not  allow  me  to  dwell  on  these 
allusions.  The  most  remarkable  fact  about  them  is,  the 
wonderful  harmony  that  runs  through  them  and  through 
the  whole  "Word  of  God.  "  You  cannot  touch,  as  it  were 
(Dr.  Cumming,)  a  note  in  Daniel,  but  all  the  apostles  of 
the  New  Testament  respond  to  it.  You  have  noticed 
sometimes  in  a  building,  in  a  church  or  a  hall,  that  if  a 
certain  note  or  tone  be  given  by  the  speaker,  the  whole 
building  will  instantly  vibrate  in  harmony  or  in  unison. 
In  the  same  way,  you  cannot  touch  a  truth  in  Daniel, 
but  tones  of  harmony  will  burst  from  the  lips  of  Paul  and 
from  the  writings  of  Peter.  The  whole  Bible  is  a  grand 
harmony,  revealing  the  mind,  the  will,  and  the  glory  of 
God." 

3.  Daniel's  truthfulness  as  a  writer  is  seen  in  the  re- 
cord he  has  made  of  the  capital  punishments  inflicted  in 


KENTUCKTANS.— FIERY  FURNACE.  43 

his  time  at  Babylon.  Casting  into  a  heated  furnace  was 
a  mode  of  practising  cruelty  known  only  to  the  Chal- 
deans ;  while  casting  into  a  den  of  wild  beasts  was  a 
punishment  peculiar  to  the  Medes  and  Persians.  In  our 
age,  the  historian  of  Cuba  does  not  say  that  the  victims  of 
some  unfortunate  attempt  at  revolution  are  bastinadoed, 
or  put  to  death  by  the  bowstring  or  the  silken  cord ;  he 
does  not  speak  of  the  mode  of  inflicting  death  in  Turkey, 
Persia,  China,  or  Japan ;  but  he  does  tell  us  that  Critten- 
den and  his  brave  but  ill-fated  companions,  who,  like 
true  Kentuckians,  would  kneel  to  none  but  God,  were 
slaughtered  by  a  file  of  soldiers  with  Spanish  muskets, 
and  that  Lopez  was  put  to  death  by  the  garote  ml.  This 
garote  vil,  I  believe,  is  a  refinement  upon  any  thing 
known  in  Spain  in  the  days  of  Columbus.  It  would, 
therefore,  be  a  great  mistake  to  say  that  any  suspicious 
gentleman  of  Spain  was  put  to  death  three  hundred 
years  ago  by  Spanish  officials  as  Lopez  was  at  Havana. 
We  have,  therefore,  a  plain  argument  in  favor  of  the 
truthfulness  of  the  history  of  Daniel,  that,  in  speaking  of 
the  infliction  of  capital  punishment  under  the  Chaldeans, 
he  mentions  that  of  the  fiery  furnace  ;  and  when  speaking 
of  capital  punishment  under  the  Medo-Persian  dynasty, 
he,  without  saying  a  word  about  the  change,  relates  that 
it  was  performed  after  the  national  manner,  namely,  by 
casting  into  a  den  of  lions.  It  were  difficult  to  conceive 
a  more  striking  proof  of  the  simple  straightforwardness  of 
the  writer,  and  of  his  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  man- 
ners and  the  customs  of  his  age,  than  we  have  in  the  nar- 
rative. 

4.  The  method  of  reckoning  years  is  also  a  proof  that 


44  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  record  before  us  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  age 
and  country  when  and  where  it  was  made.  Thus  we 
read  in  chap.  ii. :  "  In  the  second  year  of  King  Nebu- 
chadnezzar." The  writer  then  lived  in  the  age  and  king- 
dom of  Nebuchadnezzar.  From  the  way  in  which  a 
traveler  speaks  or  writes  of  longitude,  we  can  tell  to 
what  country  he  belongs.  For  as  each  country  reckons 
longitude  from  its  own  meridian,  so  each  traveler  would 
allude  to  his  own  sovereign  and  meridian  whenever 
occasion  requires.  An  Englishman  would  reckon  his 
longitude  from  Greenwich,  under  the  reign  of  her  Ma- 
jesty Victoria.  A  Frenchman  reckons  his  longitude 
from  Paris  in  the  time  of  Louis  Napoleon.  An  American 
says :  In  such  a  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  such  a  degree  of  longitude  west 
from  "Washington,  the  star-spangled  banner  was  planted 
on  such  a  fortress  or  island.  Thus,  as  the  mode  of  reck- 
oning longitude,  and  the  mention  of  the  sovereign  or 
government  found  in  some  distant  shore  or  island,  would 
show  the  country  to  which  the  discoverer  and  writer 
belonged,  so  the  allusion  here  made  to  the  mode  of  reck- 
oning time  shows  that  the  narrative  comes  from  the  pen 
of  one  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  people  among  whom  he  lived,  and  of 
whom  he  wrote.  Another  proof  of  the  same  kind  is 
found  in  ch.  ii.,  v.  5,  where  the  king  commands  their 
houses  to  be  made  a  dunghill. 

Now,  if  their  houses  had  been  built  of  stone  or  brick, 
or  even  of  wood,  as  in  this  country,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  see  the  propriety  of  such  a  decree.  But  when  you 
remember  that  the  houses  of  the  Chaldeans,  as  also  the 


THEIR  HOUSES.— FEMALES  AT  FEASTS.  45 

houses  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  were  made  of  bricks  of 
clay  hardened  in  the  sun,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing it.  Such  bricks  might  easily  be  dissolved  by 
violent  rains,  and  soon  be  reduced  by  moisture  and  rain 
to  a  pulp  or  mass  of  soft  clay.  Our  Saviour  refers  to 
such  houses  in  Matthew  vii. 

5.  The  presence  of  females  at  the  great  festival  of  Bel- 
shazzar  is  another  proof  of  the  same  kind  in  favor  of  the 
claims  of  this  book.  Such  a  statement  made  now,  con- 
cerning a  great  festival  of  the  Sultan  of  Constantinople, 
would  be  pronounced  at  once  to  be  false.  But  the  an- 
cients were  not  Moslems.  The  ancient  Egyptians,  Chal- 
deans, and  Persians  did  not  exclude  their  females  from 
their  feasts.  Abundant  proof  to  the  contrary  can  be 
collected  from  history  and  monuments.  Xenophon,  the 
historian  of  Cyrus,  says  that  it  was  a  custom  peculiar  to 
Babylon,  and  unknown  among  subsequent  nations.  He 
was  mistaken  in  part.  Such  a  custom  prevailed  among 
the  Jews  and  Egyptians,  as  well  as  with  the  Chaldeans. 
Our  record  accords  minutely  with  the  actual  peculiarities 
of  the  age  and  country  concerning  which  it  is  made. 
Xenophon  further  corroborates  the  statements  of  Daniel 
about  Belshazzar,  for  he  tells  us  that  the  "  last  king  of 
Babylon  was  cruel,  cowardly,  and  voluptuous,  who  des- 
pised the  Deity,  and  spent  his  time  in  riot  and  debauch- 
ery." This  is  precisely  the  character  which  Daniel  gives 
to  Belshazzar,  who  was  the  "last  king  of  Babylon." 
And  again,  it  is  known  that  the  Cyaxares  of  Xenophon  is 
the  same  with  the  Darius  of  Daniel.  The  character  is 
similar.  Xenophon  says  he  was  weak,  cruel,  and  pliable, 
yet  furious  in  his  anger,  and  tyrannical  in  the  exercise  of 


46  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

his  power.  This  corresponds  to  his  conduct  as  recorded 
by  Daniel.  He  tells  ns  that,  as  king,  he  allowed  his 
nobles  to  make  laws  for  him  which  were  unalterable,  and 
afterward  repented  and  endeavored  to  retract  them.  He 
casts  Daniel  into  the  den  of  lions  for  non-compliance 
with  his  orders,  and  then  spends  the  whole  night  in 
lamentation  and  remorse  at  the  consequences  of  his  cru- 
elty. It  is  thus  that  we  catch,  sounding  along  the  lapse 
of  centuries,  and  from  the  ruins  of  Persepolis  and  Baby- 
lon, now  being  brought  to  light,  echoes  of  the  great 
original — proofs  that  the  Prophet  Daniel  was  truthful, 
both  as  a  historian  and  as  a  foreteller  of  future  events, 
and  that,  like  the  other  holy  men  of  old  who  wrote  the 
Scriptures,  he  was  moved  thereto  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

6.  And  we  have  still  other  similar  proofs  that  Daniel  is 
the  author  of  this  book,  and  that  it  is  a  truth-telling  book, 
and  was  written  at  the  time  assumed,  and  that  he  was  a 
living  participator  in  the  events  which  he  records.  For 
example,  it  is  here  stated  that  the  Hebrew  youths  were 
fed  from  the  royal  table.  Is  this  fact  sustained  by  the 
history  of  the  Chaldeans  ?  "Was  there  any  such  custom 
among  them  ?  It  is  alluded  to  here  as  a  common  and  a 
well-known  fact,  just  as  an  eye-witness  would  record  a 
custom  prevailing  at  the  period  when  he  lived.  And  in- 
quiry satisfies  us  that  such  a  custom  did  prevail  at  that 
time  among  the  Chaldeans  and  Persians,  but  that  it  was 
a  custom  peculiar  to  them,  and  common  to  no  people  be- 
sides. 

The  change  of  their  names  from  Hebrew  into  Chaldee 
is  another  proof  of  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of 
the  book.     This  was  in  accordance  with  a  custom  univer- 


CHANGE  OF  NAME— LANGUAGE.         47 

sally  prevalent  among  the  Chaldeans.  In  2  Chron., 
xxxvi.,  4,  we  find  the  King  of  Babylon  changing  the 
name  of  Eliakim  into  Jehoiakim.  See  also  2  Kings, 
xxiv.,  17. 

The  fact  stated  is  in  harmony  with  the  age  and  the 
country  in  which  it  purports  to  have  been  penned. 

An  argument,  also,  in  favor  of  the  authenticity  and 
genuineness  of  the  book  is  derived  from  the  language  in 
which  it  is  written.  The  book  of  Daniel,  as  also  the  book 
of  Ezra,  was  written  partly  in  Hebrew  and  partly  in 
Chaldee,  a  language  that  differs  in  its  forms  and  struc- 
ture from  the  Hebrew  about  as  much  as  the  Italian  or 
Spanish  differs  from  the  Latin.  Now  a  historian  of 
Italy,  writing  the  history  of  his  country  two  centuries 
ago,  would  contain  allusions  to  passing  events  and  things 
that  had  happened  before,  and  would  contain  peculiari- 
ties of  style  belonging  to  the  language  of  Italy  at  that 
time ;  and  if  he  lived  at  Florence,  Bologna,  or  Naples, 
he  would  most  likely  betray  the  peculiarities  of  the  lan- 
guage and  customs  prevailing  where  he  resided.  If  a 
liberally  educated  man,  he  might  refer  to  events  in  the 
past  history  of  Asia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  but  he  could  not 
allude  to  the  electric  telegraph,  steam-ship,  or  the  crown- 
ing of  Louis  Napoleon  as  Emperor  of  France.  And  so 
clearly  are  these  things  understood,  that  scholars  can  de- 
termine quite  accurately  where  and  when  a  book  was 
written  by  its  style,  allusions,  and  facts.  So  we  find  the 
internal  evidence  of  the  book  of  Daniel  just  what  we 
have  a  right  to  expect.  It  is  written  in  Hebrew  and 
Chaldee,  just  such  as  a  well-educated  Hebrew,  well  ac- 
quainted with  Chaldee,  would  use,  and  in  just  such  Chal- 


48  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

dee  as  prevailed  in  his  time  on  the  banks  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, but  such  as  did  not  prevail  before  nor  since,  nor 
at  any  other  place.  This  is  precisely  one  of  the  argu- 
ments which  prove  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of 
the  New  Testament ;  namely,  we  find  the  language  of 
Matthew,  John,  Peter,  and  Paul,  just  such  as  their  his- 
tory would  lead  us  to  expect — a  Syro  Chaldaic  Greek. 
The  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  is  not  the  Greek  of 
Homer  nor  of  Xenophon,  nor  is  it  the  Greek  of  Chrysos- 
tom  nor  Athanasius.  The  New  Testament  is  written  in 
the  language  that  prevailed  among  the  Jews  in  their  own 
country  in  the  age  of  the  Caesars — a  language  that  never 
prevailed  before,  and  did  not  prevail  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  and  a  language  that  never  existed  any 
where,  as  a  living  tongue,  but  in  Judea — a  language, 
which,  indeed,  none  but  Jews  under  Greek-Eoman  em- 
perors would  have  used.  There  is,  then,  in  this  fact 
strong  presumptive  proof  that  the  New  Testament  was 
written  by  the  men,  and  at  the  time,  -and  in  the  country 
that  we  claim  for  its  authors,  and  that  its  authors  were, 
as  they  profess  to  have  been,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit to  write  as  they  did.  The  same  argument  avails  for 
Daniel. 

Possibly  there  may  be  those  who  are  saying  in  their 
hearts,  you  are  dwelling  too  long  on  the  introductory 
part  of  the  series — we  want  to  get  at  once  to  the  dreams, 
and  the  image  of  gold,  and  the  lions'  den.  Why  prove 
to  us  what  we  already  receive  as  true  ?  True,  you  be- 
lieve the  Scriptures,  and  it  is  a  great  blessing  that  your 
minds  are  not  tainted  with  the  poison  of  infidelity.  But 
there  are  many  precious  young  men  in  all  our  cities  who 


WHY  PROVE  THE  BOOK  TRUE?  49 

are  not  so  fortunate  as  you  are  in  this  respect.  They 
have  not  been  so  well  educated,  or  have  been  thrown  into 
unfavorable  circumstances,  or  have  been  led  astray  by 
wicked  companions.  And  even  you  will  find  yourselves 
sometimes  in  nests  of  Infidels,  who  will  taunt,  and  jeer, 
and  scoff  at  the  simplicity  of  those  that  believe  in  the 
Bible.  Is  it  not  well,  then,  to  have  you  armed  for  such 
emergencies  %  The  boldness  of  our  age,  the  exigencies 
of  our  times,  demand  thorough  conviction  of  the  truth  of 
what  we  profess.  It  is  both  reasonable  and  scriptural 
that  I  should  endeavor  to  make  you  intelligent,  and  able 
to  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  you.  As  we  can- 
not live  this  year  upon  the  provisions  consumed  last 
year,  so  it  is  well  to  ply  the  mind  and  conscience  day  by 
day  with  evidences  of  spiritual  realities.  You  may  be 
convinced  in  your  hearts — and  nothing  is  so  convincing 
that  the  Bible  is  really  the  Word  of  God,  as  an  inward, 
experimental  knowledge  of  its  precious  teachings  applied 
to  ourselves — and  nothing  is  so  well  calculated  to  con- 
vince one  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  as  the  honest,  prayer- 
ful, regular  waiting  upon  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  who 
expounds  divine  truth  from  his  own  knowledge  of  its 
preciousness.  But  you  will  need  as  you  go  your  way 
through  the  world,  not  only  what  will  convince  your  own 
hearts  that  the  Bible  is  from  God,  but  you  need  to  be  so 
well  rooted,  and  established,  and  furnished,  that  you  may 
be  able  to  convince  others  also.  It  is  most  important  to 
have  money  with  'your  banker  ;  but  you  will  lose  many 
little  comforts  and  many  solid  advantages  if  you  have 
not  a  little  change  in  your  pockets.  I  found,  in  traveling 
in  the  East,  that  the  circular  notes  of  our  countryman, 


50  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

banker  in  London  (Mr.  Peabody,)  were  generally,  and 
among  civilized  people,  even  better  thaji  French  or  Bri- 
tish gold  ;  yet  it  was  exceedingly  convenient  to  be  able 
to  save  ten  per  cent,  commission  and  exchange  from  an 
Egyptian  or  Asiatic  banker  by  having  a  little  ready  mo- 
ney on  hand.  So  it  is  most  important  to  have  deep  con- 
victions in  your  own  soul — a  bank  of  faith  at  communion 
seasons  and  in  the  solemn  assemblies  of  Sabbath  congre- 
gations ;  but  it  is  not  less  valuable,  in  this  strange  rail- 
road and  lightning-speed  world,  and  amid  its  multitudi- 
nous excitements,  and  amid  its  strange  mixture  of  society, 
to  have  a  little  ready  argument  which  you  can  employ — a 
little  mother  wit,  that  you  may  answer  therewith  a  fool 
according  to  his  folly.  Religion  is  not  a  thing  to  hang 
up  at  the  church  door  or  in  an  antiquarian  hall,  along 
with  the  armor  of  past  ages.  It  is  not  to  be  left  in  the 
vestry  as  a  clergyman  does  his  gown,  to  be  put  on  only  on 
Sabbath.  True  religion  is  a  cosmopolite.  It  is  to  be  seen 
on  our  highways  and  in  our  market-places,  and  should  be 
honored  in  our  halls  of  science,  commerce,  and  justice. 

In  concluding  this  discourse,  remember  that  the  grand 
distinctive  feature  throughout  the  whole  book  of  Daniel 
is  to  depress  all  that  is  human,  and  unfold  and  lift  up  the 
glory  of  all  that  is  divine.  The  great  object  seems  every 
where  to  be  to  make  man  feel  what  the  late  Mr.  Web- 
ster considered  the  greatest  thought  he  ever  had  in  his 
mind — man 's personal  responsibility  to  God.  It  is  regard- 
ed as  an  evidence  of  an  able  address  to  a  jury  by  an 
attorney,  that  he  lodges  in  their  bosoms  the  conviction  he 
desires  for  his  client;  so  it  is  a  good  sermon  that  con- 
verts the  hearer — that  places  the  creature  in  the  dust, 


GREATEST  THOUGHT.— GOD  ALONE  GREAT.      51 

and  exalts  God  upon  his  throne.  If,  then,  the  book  of 
Daniel  humbles  man,  and  exalts  the  Creator  and  the  Re- 
deemer of  man,  it  must  be  in  keeping  with  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  In  reading  the  book  of  Daniel,  we  see  kingdoms, 
and  monarchs,  and  statesmen — their  councils,  their  ar- 
mies, their  great  men,  their  magnificence  and  glory, 
as  the  dust  of  the  balance,  and  God  alone  is  great. 
Throughout  the  book  we  have  these  two  grand  ideas  de- 
veloped ;  man,  even  the  mightiest  of  men,  are  poor,  frail, 
short-lived,  guilty,  miserable  ;  and  God  is  wise,  and  good, 
omnipotent,  supreme,  and  glorious. 

In  this,  as  in  every  portion  of  the  Word  of  God,  we 
find  great  saving  truths.  "  Amid  the  foliage  of  prophesy 
— amid  the  flowers  of  poetry — in  the  detail*  of  biogra- 
phy, and  in  the  long  annals  of  national  or  universal  his- 
tory, truths  profitable,  or  refreshing,  or  sanctifying  to  the 
soul,  flash  forth  continually.  God  in  providence  never 
omits  to  feed  the  minutest  insect  in  his  provision  for  the 
greatest  and  the  most  important  of  created  intelligen- 
ces."* In  his  Word  there  is  living  bread  for  the  soul  of 
the  humblest,  as  well  as  warning,  and  instruction,  and 
reproof,  for  kings,  and  presidents,  and  nations.  In  the 
pages  of  the  prophets,  as  truly,  if  not  as  fully  as  in  the 
pages  of  the  evangelists,  such  truths  are  written  as  unfold 
to  us  our  true  condition  as  sinners,  and  our  hope  of  par- 
don and  eternal  life.  The  whole  Bible  is  an  intensely 
practical  book.  Christianity  is  an  intensely  practical 
thing.  It  is  the  one  thing  needful  for  all  men.  It  is  the 
great  want  of  the  human  soul.     It  is  not  a  dead,  lifeless 

*  Dr.  Cumming's  Preface  to  Daniel. 


52  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

body;  but  a  living,  earnest,  expansive,  heartfelt,  pro- 
gressive thing.  Man  has  sinned,  and  therefore  he  suf- 
fers. Sin  has  entered  our  world,  and  death  by  sin.  The 
conscience,  intellect,  and  heart  of  man — all  is  morally 
diseased.  The  great  question  then  is,  How  can  we  escape 
the  consequence  of  sin  ?  This  question  the  Bible  answers 
promptly  and  fully.  Jehovah  laid  upon  His  Son  our  ini- 
quities ;  He  made  Him  who  knew  no  sin  to  be  sin  for 
us,  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
Him.  The  moment  man  sinned  Jesus  stood  between  the 
living  and  the  dead — He  offered  himself  as  a  victim  in 
our  room  and  stead,  and  was  accepted.  Being  without 
sin,  and  exempt  from  obligations  of  his  own,  he  had  a 
right  to  assume  our  place.  We  as  sinners  were  without 
holiness  and  without  strength.  No  man  can  save  him- 
self. All  the  popes,  bishops,  prelates,  poets,  philosophers, 
and  councils  in  Christendom  can  no  more  change  the 
heart  of  man  than  they  can  create  a  fixed  star,  or  soar  to 
the  sun.  They  can  no  more  pay  the  price  of  human  re- 
demption than  they  can  create  a  universe.  Yet  it  is  true 
that  the  history  of  the  world  without  God  is  nothing  but 
a  history  of  successive  efforts  and  successive  failures  to 
regenerate  and  save  itself  without  Christ.  "What  are  all 
the  thousand  smoking  altars,  and  the  ten  thousand  bleed- 
ing victims  of  heathenism,  rude  and  refined,  ancient  and 
modern,  but  so  many  efforts  of  man  to  redeem  and  save 
his  own  soul  ?  What  is  Pantheism,  but  man's  vain  effort 
to  regenerate  man,  and  perfect  his  character  and  happi- 
ness without  Christ?  What  are  Popery  and  Puseyism 
but  priestly  and  abortive  efforts  to  regenerate  man  with- 
out Christ  ?    Aristides,  Socrates,  Plato,  Alfred,  and  other 


THINGS  PAINFUL.— PRIESTS  SPIES.  53 

names  of  the  like  character  are  not  types  of  humanity. 
They  are  the  exceptions  to  the  general  character  and  con- 
dition of  our  race — they  are  the  few  tall  trees  seen  from 
a  distance ;  while  beneath  and  around  them  we  find  here 
and  there,  and  everywhere,  the  pestilential  swamp,  and 
all  manner  of  vile  and  worthless  things.  The  mass  of 
terrible  corruption  which  lies  and  festers  in  the  mass  of 
the  heathen  population  of  our  globe  may  be  estimated 
from  the  first  chapter  of  Romans,  and  from  the  lanes,  and 
alleys,  and  dens,  and  Bridewells,  and  Tombs  of  the  large 
cities  of  the  earth.  The  lower  stratum  of  society  is  not 
a  basket  of  flowers,  but  a  terrible  reality  that  calls  for 
help.  It  were  painful  enough  to  see  the  ancient  heathen 
worshiping  Mars,  a  sort  of  cannibal,  who  drank  the  blood 
of  his  victims ;  Mercury,  who  was  a  thief;  and  Jupiter, 
who  was  a  monster.  But  it  is  more  painful  to  see  the  de- 
pravity, corruption,  and  wretchedness  of  modern  times — 
to  see  the  Gospel,  itself  pure,  precious  and  Godlike  in  all 
its  influences,  perverted  and  made  the  patron  of  cruelty 
and  persecution — made  to  set  up  inquisitions  for  the 
murder  of  saints,  for  the  plunder  of  widows,  and  its 
ministers  spies  of  the  police,  through  the  Confessional,  for 
the  suppression  of  freedom  and  the  enslavement  of  man- 
kind. It  is  more  painful  still  to  see  young  men  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  enjoying  the  blessings  of  Christian- 
ity, surrounded  and  urged  by  every  honorable  induce- 
ment to  noble  conduct,  throw  away  all  their  privileges, 
and  destroy  themselves  by  indolence  or  dissipation,  or  by 
following  false  principles.  In  the  very  outset  of  life,  my 
young  friends,  you  feel  your  need  of  religion ;  you  feel 
your  need  of  a  guide  and  protector.     Let  this  holy  Yol- 


54  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

urne  be  jour  guide,  and  God  your  protector.  The  Gos- 
pel is  not  a  mere  directory  nor  rule — it  is  a  prescription 
also.  It  directs  the  living  and  healthy,  and  it  also  cures 
the  diseased,  and  gives  life  to  the  dead.  Calvary  is  not 
a  mere  composite  of  Sinai.  It  is  the  spot  on  which  the 
Son  of  man  was  lifted  up,  and  the  Son  of  God  in  human 
nature  died — died  for  us !  God  gave  his  Son  for  us.  The 
great  Redeemer  left  the  robes  of  majesty  and  beauty  for 
the  vile  refuse  garment  that  Pilate  cast  upon  his  shoulders. 
He  left  the  admiration  of  angels  for  the  execration  of  the 
mob.  He  exchanged  a  diadem  of  glory  for  a  wreath  of 
thorns — and  why  ?  It  was  for  us — that  our  ruined  souls 
might  be  redeemed,  and  live  forever  with  God  and  holy 
angels. 

It  is  not  enough,  then,  that  you  are  intelligent,  and 
honest,  and  industrious,  and  high-minded — you  must 
have  a  personal  interest  in  the  salvation  of  the  Cross. 
You  must  receive  Christ,  and  rest  upon  Him  alone  for 
salvation,  as  He  is  offered  in  the  Gospel.  The  Gospel  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth.  And  when  it  shall  prevail  over  our  globe,  then 
there  will  be  an  end  to  all  bitterness  and  pride,  sectarian- 
ism, selfishness,  and  vain-glory — to  all  insubordination 
among  subjects,  and  to  all  despotism  on  the  part  of  rulers. 
The  great  rainbow  of  the  covenant,  that  started  from  the 
cross  and  vaulted  into  the  sky  from  Jerusalem,  and  now 
sweeps  over  the  throne  of  Jehovah,  shall  complete  its 
orbit,  and  rest  again  on  the  ground,  and  Christ  shall  reign 
supreme  over  all  nations  and  people.  It  is  for  you  now 
to  choose  the  Lord's  side  and  be  found  with  his  conquer- 
ing hosts,  or  by  refusing  to  accept  of  his  mercy,  make 


CHRIST  WILL  CONQUER.— CHOOSE  HIS  SIDE.  55 

your  everlasting  destruction  sure.  The  old  year  is  gone 
and  is  now  numbered  with  your  earliest  years.*  Pas- 
sion's fervid  hopes  and  fears  for  another  year  are  gone. 

"  The  dream  of  youth  is  broken — 
Gone  are  the  voices  once  so  sweet ; 
Friends  too  dear  shall  never  meet — 
Treasures  of  the  heart's  young  day, 
Yain  delusions — pass  away ; 

All  earthly  things  are  flying." 

Heaven  only  is  sure.  Fly  now  to  Christ  and  live  fob- 
eveb.     Amen. 

*  Delivered  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1853. 


56  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 


LECTUKE  HI. 

DANIEL  AS  A  MAN — A  MODEL. 

On  Dan,  L 

Affairs  in  Judea. — Shinar. — Three  Carryings-away  to  Babylon. — Sketch  of 
DanieVs  History  and  Character. —  Why  refused  King's  Fare. — Benefits  of 
early  Education. — Ashpenaz  a  cunning  Politician. — Melzar  a  sharp  Contract- 
or.— The  Experiment. — Attainments  of  Daniel  and  his  Friends. — A  Model 
for  his  Intelligence,  high  Bearing,  and  Steadfastness  in  his  Religion. — King's 
Efforts  to  seduce  him  all  fail. — Reflections.  1.  Appreciate  a  good  Educa- 
tion.— Lord  Dartmouth. —  Webster's  Eulogy.  2.  Duty  of  immediate  personal 
Piety. — Solemn  Questionings. 

.'Read  verses  1-5. 

From  2  Kings,  xxiii.,  34-36,  we  learn  that  Jehoiakim 
was  raised  to  the  throne  of  Judah  by  Pharaoh-Necho, 
King  of  Egypt.  He  continued  tributary  to  Egypt  three 
years,  but  in  his  fourth  year,  which  was  the  first  year  of 
the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  a  great  battle  was  fought 
near  the  Euphrates  between  the  Egyptian  and  Babylonian 
kings,  and  the  Egyptian  army  was  defeated.  This  victory 
placed  all  Syria  under  the  Chaldean  government ;  and 
thus  Jehoiakim,  who  had  been  tributary  to  Egypt,  now 
became  a  vassal  of  the  King  of  Babylon.  See  also,  Jer., 
xxv.,  1,  and  xlvi.,  2  ;  2  Kings,  xxiv.,  1. 

After  three  years,  the  King  of  Judah  rebelled  against 
the  King  of  Babylon,  who  came  against  Jerusalem,  and 
besieged  and  took  it,  as  soon  as  his  engagements  with 
other  wars  allowed  him  to  direct  his  attention  to  Jewish 
affairs.     The  land  of  Shinar  was  the  ancient  name  of 


TREASURES.— DANIEL'S  AGE.  57 

Babylon.  And  brought  the  vessels  into  the  treasures  of 
his  god.  His  god  was  Bel,  the  tutelar  guardian  of  the 
Babylonish  empire.  To  carry  away  the  richest  and  finest 
vessels  of  the  temple  of  a  conquered  people  was  a  com- 
mon custom  among  conquerors.  What,  however,  was 
necessary  to  carry  on  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  he  left. 
The  King  of  Babylon  did  not  attempt  to  alter  the  civil  or 
religious  constitution  of  the  land.  He  left  Jehoiakim  on 
the  throne,  and  the  religion  of  his  God  in  His  temple. 
He  only  laid  the  land  under  tribute. 

The  Chaldeans  carried  away  the  vessels  of  the  Lord's 
house  three  different  times.  1.  In  the  war  spoken  of  in 
the  text.  2.  In  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  a  few  months 
after. — See  2  Kings,  xxiv.,  13.  3.  Eleven  years  after  this, 
when  Zedekiah  was  king  in  Jerusalem,  and  when  the 
temple  and  city  were  destroyed.     2  Kings,  xxv.,  8-15. 

Among  the  captives  of  the  children  of  Israel  we  find 
Daniel  and  his  three  friends.  They  were  of  the  king's 
seed  and  of  the  princes.  Various  opinions  have  been  ex- 
pressed as  to  Daniel's  age  when  he  was  carried  to  Baby- 
lon. The  term  applied  to  him  and  his  friends  (jDHV) 
means  boys,  lads,  or  youths.  "We  are  in  the  habit,  after 
the  manner  of  the  Apocrypha,  of  speaking  of  the  three 
Hebrew  children,  but  without  any  authority.  The  term 
should  be  considered  as  signifying  young  men,  in  this 
place.  Ignatius  thinks  Daniel  was  twelve  years  of  age 
when  he  was  carried  to  Babylon.  Chrysostom  says  he  was 
eighteen.  These  and  similar  statements  ©f  the  Fathers 
are  but  guesses.  They  are  probably,  however,  near  the 
truth.  Daniel  and  his  friends  were  given  in  charge  to 
Ashpenaz,  the  master  courtier  of  the  Chaldean  conqueror, 


58  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

to  be  fed  and  educated,  so  that  in  time  they  might  be- 
come personal  waiters  and  attendants  of  the  monarch. 
It  is  known  that  it  was  the  usual  custom  of  Oriental 
monarchs  to  prepare  for  themselves  active  and  sprightly 
waiters  from  the  highest  classes  of  society,  and  that  these 
waiters  were  usually  put  in  training  at  about  fourteen 
years  of  age.     The  history  also  renders  it  probable  that 
Daniel  was  of  regal  descent,  of  the  royal  family  of  David. 
You  perceive  that  he  and  his  three  friends  are  said,  in  the 
3d  verse,  to  have  been  "  of  the  king's  seed  and  of  the 
princes."    They  were  drawn  from  the  upper  classes  of 
society  at  Jerusalem,  and  retained  in  Babylon  as  hostages, 
to  secure  the  quiet  and  submission  of  the  Jewish  king 
and  his  nobles  in  their  tributary  condition.     Daniel's 
good  education,  fine  intelligence,  amiability  of  manners, 
his  knowledge  of  his  own  language  and  nation,  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  he  acquired  a  knowledge   of  the 
Chaldee  tongue  and  customs,  soon  rendered  him  a  person 
of  distinction  at  court.     "When,  by  the  interpretation  of 
the  king's  dream,  he  is  raised  to  be  the  head  of  the  Magi, 
and  of  all  the  learned  men  in  the  kingdom,  he  does  not 
forget  his  old  friends,  nor  despise  the  religion   of  his 
fathers.     He  had  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  jealousy  and 
self-exaltation.     He  made  his  friends  participators  in  the 
honors  and  emoluments  that  he  gained  by  being  placed 
over  the  Magi  and  astrologers  of  Babylon.      He  has, 
moreover,   perpetuated  the   memory   of  his   friends   as 
among  the  noblest  of  martyrs  for  truth  that  stand  record- 
ed on  the  pages  of  sacred  history.     The  history  which  he 
has  given  of  his  three  pious  and  distinguished  companions 


THE  WRITING  ON  THE  WALL.  59 

in  the  3d  chapter  consigns  them  to  the  heartfelt  applause 
and  perpetual  remembrance  and  admiration  of  mankind. 
A  second  dream  of  the  king  is  the  occasion  of  his  being 
again  raised  to  honor,  which  he  seems  to  have  retained 
during  the  interregnum.  Next  we  find  Belshazzar  on 
the  throne,  and,  in  the  midst  of  his  Bacchanalian  tumult, 
heathenish  impiety,  and  contempt,  he  is  alarmed  by  the 
mysterious  hand- writing  on  the  wall ;  and  when  his  Magi 
and  astrologers  were  summoned  in  vain  to  give  him  the 
interpretation,  his  mother  tells  him  what  Daniel  had 
done  in  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Daniel  is  forth- 
with sent  for,  and  large  promises  of  reward  are  made 
to  him,  in  case  he  should  read  and  explain  the  writing  on 
the  wall.  He  did  so ;  and  the  explanation  was,  that  the 
death  of  the  king,  and  the  extinction  of  his  dynasty,  was 
near  at  hand.  And  in  that  very  night  Cyrus  made  him- 
self master  of  the  city,  and  the  king  was  slain.  Belshaz- 
zar, however,  complied  with  his  promise.  Daniel  was 
clothed  with  most  costly  decorations,  and  made  the  third 
ruler  in  the  kingdom.  But  this  honor  lasted  only  an 
hour.  The  prophet's  elevation  was  followed  by  the  fall 
of  the  kingdom,  the  king's  death,  and  the  extinction  of 
his  dynasty.  Darius  the  Mede  now  assumed  the  throne 
of  Babylon  ;  and  Daniel's  talents  and  honors  so  disturbed 
his  companions,  that  they  succeeded  in  having  him  cast 
into  the  lions'  den  for  his  steadfastness  in  his  religion. 
Jehovah  did  not  forsake  his  servant,  but  sent  his  angel 
to  heep  Daniel  in  safety,  even  among  the  hungry  lions. 
When  the  king  discovers  this,  he  takes  Daniel  out  and 
casts  his  persecutors  into  the  den,  and  they  were  instantly 
torn  in  pieces.     Of  his  visions  I  shall  not  here  speak. 


60  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

He  lived  to  be  upwards  of  eighty-four  years  of  age. 
And,  as  his  name  is  not  found  among  those  Jews  who 
returned  to  Palestine  after  the  proclamation  of  Cyrus,  it 
is  probable  that  his  age,  and  perhaps  his  office,  prevented 
him  from  leaving  Babylon.  He  probably  died  in  Chal- 
dea.  His  tomb,  it  is  said,  has  been  discovered  at 
Shushan.  Never  was  there  raised  up  a  truer  patriot,  a 
warmer  and  more  faithful  and  constant  friend  than 
Daniel.  His  visions  close  with  kind  and  comforting  as- 
surances. It  has  been  beautifully  suggested  that  this 
was  appropriate.  He  needed  them.  His  life  had  been 
one  of  care  and  labor,  study  and  prayer.  His  bosom  had 
beat  so  high  and  so  long  with  patriotic  and  devotional 
feeling,  that  now,  when  the  liberation  of  his  countrymen 
was  at  hand,  it  was  very  trying  for  him  to  bear  up  under 
the  future  miseries  and  vexations  which,  as  a  prophet,  he 
saw  were  coming  on  his  nation.  It  was  fitting,  therefore, 
that  his  last  days  should  be  cheered'  with  strong  faith 
and  personal  assurance  of  Divine  favor.  Daniel's  char- 
acter is  pre-eminently  worthy  of  our  attention.  His  life 
was  not  only  conspicuous,  but  singular  and  difficult.  A 
Hebrew — a  Hebrew  prophet — and  yet  prime  minister  at 
a  heathen  court,  which  then  governed  the  world ;  and  yet 
never  did  he  fail  in  his  duties,  either  as  a  statesman  or  as 
a  true  disciple  of  Moses.  Amid  all  the  luxury,  and 
splendor,  and  honors  of  the  Babylonish  court,  he  pre- 
served an  incorruptible  integrity  and  spirituality  of 
character.  The  length  of  time  that  he  acted  as  prime 
minister  of  state  is  proof  of  the  ability  and  fidelity  with 
which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  high  station.  The 
whole  of  his  life  presents  in  high  relief  the  fearlessness  of 


DANIEL  PRIME  MINISTER. 

Iris  spirit  and  the  fervor  of  his  heart.     He  ever  cherished 
humble  views  of  himself,  but  the  warmest  emotions  of 
patriotism  toward  his  country.     What  is  more  pathetic 
and  powerful  than  his  intercessions  in  behalf  of  his  suf- 
fering countrymen!     What  more  heroic  than  his  ever 
life-long  simple  obedience  to  and  trust  in  his.  God !    Such 
is  a  summary  of  the  life  and  character  of  Daniel,  the 
prime  minister,  and  the  prophet  of  Jehovah.     I  desire 
you  to  take  him  as  a  model.     He  is  eminently  worthy  of 
your  profound  study  and  earnest  efforts. 
Read  from  the  eighth  to  the  sixteenth  verse. 
Why  did  he  firmly  refuse  to  eat  of  the  king's  meat  or 
drink  of  the  king's  wine  ?    The  temptation  to  do  so  was 
certainly  very  strong.     Did  he  refuse  because  it  was  sin- 
ful in  itself  to  eat  meat  and  drink  wine,  or  to  eat  and 
drink  with  a  king  %    Did  he  refuse  because  he  had  no 
taste  for  meat  and  wine,  like  other  young  men  %    His  re- 
fusal was  doubtless  for  other  reasons. 

1.  The  Chaldeans  probably  ate  such  unclean  beasts  as 
hares,  swine,  and  the  like  animals,  which  were  not  lawful 
for  a  Jew  to  eat.  2.  The  Chaldeans,  as  the  heathen 
generally  did,  and  do  still,  probably  ate  animals  which 
had  been  strangled,  or  not  properly  cleansed  of  their 
blood.  According  to  the  law  of  Moses,  a  Jew  could  not 
eat  of  such  flesh.  3.  It  was  a  heathen  custom  to  offer  the 
animals  that  were  eaten  first  as  victims  to  their  gods. 
Among  the  Romans  these  oblations  were  called  libamina. 
The  provisions  then  set  apart  for  Daniel  and  his  friends, 
coming  from  the  king's  table  after  this  dedication  to  idols, 
were  to  be  looked  upon  as  offerings  to  heathen  deities, 
and  could  not,  therefore,  be  eaten  by  them,  either  as 


62  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Jews  or  as  worshipers  of  the  only  true  God.  The  case 
was  plain.  The  King  of  Babylon  was  in  the  habit  of  doing 
just  what  is  equivalent  to  our  "asking  a  blessing  at 
table."  And  in  "  saying  his  grace,"  he  took  a  portion  of 
his  food  and  of  his  wine  and  offered  them  to  his  idol  be- 
fore he  tasted  it  himself.  This  offering  consecrated  the 
whole  of  his  subsistence  to  his  god.  Daniel  and  his 
friends  could  not  participate  in  such  worship  to  idols. 
They  could  not  thus  deny  their  country  and  the  religion 
of  their  parents.  They  were  prepared  to  run  all  hazards, 
rather  than  appear  to  compromise  themselves  with  hea- 
thenism. In  our  velvet  and  morphine  churches  and 
latitudinarian  age,  it  may  seem  difficult  to  decide  the 
course  of  action.  In  flying  from  Charybdis  we  fear  to 
fall  upon  Scylla.  But  Daniel  did  not  hesitate.  He  could 
not  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  great  king,  for,  by  so 
doing,  he  should  offend  his  God.  But  will  he  not  offend 
so  mighty  a  monarch,  whose  servant,  captive,  and  slave 
he  is,  and  give  up  all  hope  of  advancement,  for  the  sake 
of  his  religion  ?  And  might  he  not  excuse  himself  by 
saying,  this  has  an  air  of  exclusiveness  and  of  self-right- 
eous arrogance  about  it — I  do  not  like  to  set  myself  up 
as  too  good  to  eat  of  the  king's  provisions  ?  But  it  was 
not  thus  Daniel  reasoned.  The  case  seems  scarcely  to 
have  admitted  of  debate  in  his  mind.  He  purposed  in 
his  heart  that  he  would  not  defile  himself  with  the  portion 
of  the  Icing's  meat,  nor  with  the  wine  which  he  drank. 
Young,  high-minded,  sensitive,  and  well  bred  as  these  Pie- 
brew  youths  were,  they  shrunk  not  from  the  task,  odious 
as  it  seemed  to  be,  of  adhering  with  unwavering  stead- 
fastness to  their  religion.     Daniel  was  the  leader  in  this 


IMPEMSHABLENESS  OF  EARLY  TEACHING.  63 

matter ;  and  God  had  given  him  peculiar  fitness  for  the 
trial  (verse  9.)  Their  conscientious  scruples  were  sup- 
ported by  their  education,  and  the  favor  of  the  God  whom 
they  served.  The  result  would  have  been  very  different 
if  these  young  men  had  not  received  a  religious  education. 
But,  happily  for  them,  they  had  not  been  brought  up  in 
public  "  godless  "  schools,  where  there  was  no  regard  for 
God,  and  none  for  his  Word.  They  had  not  been  edu- 
cated in  such  schools  as  the  Socialists  and  Infidels  of  our 
day  would  establish,  where  Pantheism  and  Atheism  are 
either  taught  directly,  or  allowed  to  occupy  the  young 
mind  by  withholding  from  it  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
God.  On  the  contrary,  they  had  been  brought  up — 
though  in  a  wicked,  apostate  age  of  their  country — still 
they  had  been  brought  up  at  their  fathers'  home  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  writings  of 
Moses  and  the  early  prophets.  Their  early  education 
was,  under  God,  the  means  of  their  preservation.  "  The 
deep  engraving  of  truth  upon  the  heart  of  the  young  is 
never  altogether  effaced.  Those  impressions  of  divine 
truth  that  are  made  on  our  hearts  in  youth  often  emerge 
in  after  years  with  all  the  freshness  and  the  beauty  of 
yesterday !  Silenced  they  may  be,  overshadowed  they 
may  be,  but  they  are  rarely  extinguished." — Dr.  Gum- 
ming. 

The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  their  education,  and  in 
bringing  to  bear  upon  its  impressions  such  a  train  of  cir- 
cumstances as  brought  forth  its  fruit.  The  characters  of 
Ashpenaz  and  Melzar,  and  their  respective  conditions, 
concur  in  allowing  an  experiment  that  resulted  trium- 
phantly. 


64  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Daniel,  seeing  at  once  the  necessity  of  action,  deter- 
mines to  follow  the  plainest,  strictest,  most  honest,  bold- 
est mode  of  proceeding,  as,  in  the  end,  the  safest  and  the 
best.  He  goes,  therefore,  at  once  to  head-quarters,  to 
Ashpenaz,  who  has  already  conceived  favorable  impres- 
sions of  him.  The  answer  of  this  high  functionary  is  both 
kind  and  cautious.  It  amounts  to  this,  that  he  would 
willingly  grant  his  request,  if  he  could ;  but  he  was  afraid 
to  do  so.  He  was  appointed  by  the  king  to  take  care  of 
these  youths,  and  to  prepare  them  for  his  service  in  a 
given  time.  The  king  had  also  appointed  the  fare,  and, 
if  the  result  desired  was  not  attained,  his  head  was  in 
peril,  and  especially  if  it  should  appear  that  the  failure 
was  owing  to  his  not  having  strictly  obeyed  orders. 
Daniel  at  once  saw  how  the  matter  stood.  He  saw  that 
Ashpenaz  was  an  old  politician.  This  great  man,  like 
many  of  his  successors  in  high  places,  was  willing  enough 
to  share  any  advantage  that  might  accrue  from  disobedi- 
ence of  orders,  but  not  willing  to  take  the  responsibility. 
He  would  wink  at  any  thing  a  subordinate  might  do  in 
the  matter,  who  chose  to  risk  his  head.  Daniel  goes 
next,  therefore,  to  Melzar,  who  was  either  the  master  of 
the  boarding-house  where  the  young  men  were  served, 
or  he  was  an  officer  under  Ashpenaz,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  attend  to  the  food,  clothing,  &c,  of  the  royal  captives. 
As  in  Turkish  seraglios,  so  it  seems  to  have  been  the 
custom  at  Babylon,  that  every  three  or  four  lads  should 
have  one  eunuch  to  take  care  of  them  ;  and  Daniel,  now 
understanding  how  the  matter  stood,  makes  his  address 
accordingly.  He  proposed  they  should  make  an  experi- 
ment of  ten  days,  and,  if  they  did  not  look  worse,  then 


PECULATION.— CHALDEE  LEARNING.        65 

the  experiment  was  to  be  continued.  To  this  Melzar 
consented.  One  reason  of  his  consenting,  no  doubt,  was, 
that  he  could  keep  the  young  men  on  pulse  and  water 
cheaper  than  on  such  fare  as  the  king  provided,  and  he 
could  abstract  and  sell  the  king's  portions  sent  to  the 
young  Hebrews,  and  thereby  drive  a  profitable  specula- 
tion ;  for  it  is  to  be  observed,  they  did  not  demand  to  be 
fed  on  Hebrew  luxuries,  such  as  they  might  have  used 
without  doing  violence  to  their  religious  scruples.  They 
only  asked  for  the  simplest,  cheapest,  and  most  easily- 
prepared  diet.  And  the  result  of  the  experiment  was 
triumphant.  See  15th  and  16th  verses.  Pulse  means 
grain,  such  as  barley,  wheat,  rye,  peas. 

A  vegetable  diet  may  have  been  healthful,  and  have 
had  a  tendency  to  produce  a  fine  complexion  and  pleasant 
countenance  ;  yet,  as  this  spare  diet  was  chosen  from  con- 
scientious scruples,  no  doubt  God  gave  them  his  special 
blessing.  They  were  sincere  and  faithful  in  their  ad- 
herence to  religious  principle,  and  God  rewarded  them. 
They  became  not  only  more  handsome  than  the  other 
lads,  but  grew  more  comely  than  they  themselves  had 
been  before ;  and  in  the  examination  at  the  end  of  the 
days,  (i.  <?.,  of  the  three  years,)  they  are  found  fit  to  stand 
before  the  king.  It  seems,  from  verses  18-21,  that  of  all 
the  noble  captives  from  different  nations,  only  four  were 
wanted  to  stand  before  the  king,  and  that  Daniel  and  his 
companions  were  found  ten  times  better  than  all  the  ma- 
gicians and  astrologers  that  were  in  all  his  realm. 

The  learning  and  the  tongue,  of  the  Chaldeans.     The 

Chaldeans  were  then  more  renowned  for  learning  and 

wisdom  than  the  Egyptians.     In  three  years  Daniel  be- 

5 


66  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

came  as  celebrated  in  the  Chaldean  court  for  his  know- 
ledge of  their  science  and  literature  as  for  his  deep  piety. 
Even  in  his  own  lifetime  his  reputation  for  wisdom  be- 
came a  proverb.  Thou  are  wiser  than  Daniel.  Ezekiel 
and  Daniel  are  ranked  with  Noah  and.1  Job  for  exemplary 
conduct.  Daniel's  writings  give  abundant  evidence  of 
his  scholarship.  His  style  is  pure  and  correct;  ..  He  wrote 
iu  Hebrew,  where  he  delivers  to  us  a  bare  narrative  of 
events;  but  in  Chaldee,  where  he  relates  the  conversa- 
tions which  he  had  with  the  wise  men  and  the  kings. 
Nebuchadnezzar's  edict,  after  Daniel  had  interpreted  his 
dream  concerning  the  great  metallic  image,  is  given  in 
Chaldee.  It  is  probable  that  the  ancients  knew  more 
than  we  are  in  the  habit  of  ascribing  to  them.  However 
this  may  be,  Daniel,  being  a  Hebrew,  was  brought  up  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  arts,  customs,  laws,  and  religion  of 
his  nation.  With  him  science  was  associated  with  reli- 
gion, and  the  more  he  knew  of  science  and  literature,  of 
men  and  things,  under  the  control  of  religion,  the  greater 
were  his  advantages  of  gaining  influence.  And  so  it 
should  ever  be.  Learning  should  be  the  handmaid  of 
devotion.  The  spoils  of  Egypt  should  beautify  the  temple 
of  Salem. 

Another  feature  of  Daniel's  circumstances  at  this  time, 
that  makes  his  steadfastness  to  his  country  and  his  coun- 
try's God  the  more  worthy  of  perpetual  remembrance,  is, 
that  he  was  of  noble,  if  not  of  royal  birth. 

He  was  of  the  royal  tribe  of  Judah.  It  is  true,  not 
many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called,  but  some  are. 
Piety  has  friends  among  the  friends  of  science  and  learn- 
ing.    Some  men  of  the  highest  rank  and  the  most  gigantic 


SOME  NOBLE.— WHY  NAMES  CHANGED.  ffl 

intellect  have  been  and  are  sincere  believers  in  the  Gospel. 
The  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  apostles  of  the 
New  Testament  were  of  different  callings  and  rank  in 
society.  David  was  a  shepherd-boy  ;  Isaiah  and  Daniel 
were  of  the  royal  tribe;  Amos  was  a  herdsman ;  Zecha- 
riah,  a  captive  from  Babylon;  Elisha  was  a  plowman; 
Matthew  was  a  fisherman  ;  Luke  a  physician  ;  and  Paul 
a  learned  man.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  rank  and 
wealth,  power  and  station,  do  not  affect  the  value  of  the 
soul.  In  the  Gospel,  every  soul  is  regarded  as  of  trans- 
cendent worth ;  still,  it  is  true  that  some  men  are  in  posi- 
tions that  render  their  piety  of,  more  value  to  the  world 
than  others. 

The  King  of  Babylon  desired  to  detach  Daniel  from  his 
Hebrew  associations,  and  to  unteach  him  his  Christianity, 
and  for  this  purpose  he  not  only  required  him  to  eat  from 
his  table,  but  changed  his  name'.  The  good  education 
and  family  religion  of  Daniel  and  his  three  friends  were 
sadly  in  the  way  of  the  king's  purpose.  He  had  to  pull 
down  a  noble  structure  before  he  -could  begin  to  build. 
He  had  to  root  out  what  tradition  and  parental  training 
had  implanted,  before  he  could  hope  to  make  them 
heathens  like  himself.  Each  of  their  names  had  "God" 
in  it,  and  thus  their  names  served  to  remind  them  of  their 
religion,  and,  at  the  same  time,  doubtlessly  annoyed  the 
king.  He  had  strong  reasons,  therefore,  for  changing 
their  names;  and,  profiting  by  their  example,  he  gave 
them  names  that  were  either  merely  civil  and  social,  or 
contained  an  allusion  actually  idolatrous.  Collateral  his- 
tory proves  that  such  a  custom  did  prevail  in  ancient 
Babylon. 


^8  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

The  change  of  names  was  a  mark  of  dominion  and  au- 
thority. It  was  customary  for  masters  to  give  new  names 
to  their  slaves.  The  same  custom  prevailed  in  Egypt ; 
and  all  know  that  then,  as  now,  rulers,  on  ascending  the 
throne  or  coming  into  power,  often  assume  a  name  dif- 
ferent from  what  they  had  before. 

Daniel  signifies  God  is  my  Judge.  Changed  into  Belte- 
shazzar,  which  means,  the  Treasure  of  Bel ;  or,  the  De- 
pository of  the  Secrets  of  Bel. 

HanarAah  signifies  the  Lord  has  been  gracious  to  me  ; 
or,  he  to  whom  the  Lord  is  gracious.  Changed  into 
ShadracK  a  Chaldee  word,  which  has  been  variously 
understood.  The  chief  meanings  attached  to  it  are :  The 
Inspiration  of  the  Sun  ;  the  God  who  is  the  author  of  evil, 
be  propitious  to  us ;  let  God  be  propitious  to  us,  and  pre- 
serve us  from  evil. 

Mishael,  one  that  comes  from  God.  Changed  into 
Chaldee,  Meshach,  which  means  one  that  belongs  to  the 
goddess  Sheshac,  a  celebrated  deity  among  the  Chaldeans, 
mentioned  by  Jeremiah,  xxv.,  26. 

Azariah  signifies  the  Lord  is  my  helper.  This  was 
changed  into  Abednego,  which  means  the  servant  of 
Kego,  who  was  one  of  their  divinities ;  which  was  the 
Chaldee  name  for  the  sun,  or  the  morning  star. 

As  the  king  did  not  like  their  religion,  he  sought,  by 
heathenizing  their  names,  to  heathenize  their  hearts. 

It  may  be  true,  as  the  poet  says,  that  "  A  rose  by  any 
other  name  would  smell  as  sweet" — still  there  is  much  in 
a  name.  A  happy  soubriquet  may  make  a  president. 
Abstractedly  and  logically,  there  may  be  nothing  in  the 
names  we  give  to  our  children,  but  practically  it  is  of  im- 


IMPORTANCE  OF  A  CHRIST  [AN  EDUCATION.  69 

portance  to  give  them  such  names,  and  to  apply  to  them, 
as  they  are  growing  up,  such  epithets,  as  may  bring  to 
their  minds  high  and  noble  examples,  and  give  them 
worthy  associations. 

The  king  was  delighted  with  Daniel's  scholarship,  but 
not  with  his  religion.  He  would  have  Daniel's  good  face 
and  deep  science  in  his  court,  but  not  his  piety.  And  so 
it  is  now  with  many  people.  They  hear,  like  Herod, 
gladly,  but  do  not  obey.  They  are  pleased  with  the 
Gospel,  but  do  not  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance. 
They  like  Christianity  for  its  decencies,  but  do  not  like 
the  urgency  of  repentance. 

In  changing  the  young  Hebrews'  names,  the  king, 
however,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  yet  get  rid  of  their  reli- 
gion. Their  creed  and  character  remained  the  same.  It 
is  true,  they  seem  not  to  have  resisted  their  new  appel- 
latives. They  quietly  submitted  to  be  called  by  heathen 
names,  because  this  was  a  matter  they  could  not  control. 
And  so  Christians  have  in  all  ages  patiently  submitted  to 
the  reproach  of  the  world,  and  have  borne  them  joyfully. 
There  are  several  great  principles  raised  from  the  history 
of  Daniel  and  his  companions,  which  I  shall  reserve  for 
the  next  discourse,  accommodating  the  history  before  us 

to  the  DUTY  AND  MEANS  OF  SELF-IMPROVEMENT,  and  apply  it 

to  the  design  of  the  young  men's  Christian  Association, 
at  whose  request  and  in  whose  behalf  it  will,  God  per- 
mitting, be  delivered. 

With  two  reflections  I  close  : 

I.  From  the  example  before  us,  we  should  learn  to 
appreciate  a  Christian  education.  These  young  men  of 
the  best  families  of  Jerusalem  were  brought  up  to  know 


70  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

and  serve  the  God  of  their  fathers.     And  they  did  not 
disgrace  their  education.     As  they  had  been  carefully 
brought  up  in  the  institutions  of  Moses,  so  they  continued 
to  regulate  their  conduct  by  them,  even  in  the  court  of 
a  heathen  king,  where  they  were  prisoners  and  slaves. 
They  were  not  ashamed  to  acknowledge  their  principles. 
An  incident  of  Lord  Dartmouth  is  related  that  is  worthy 
of  being  remembered  by  young  men  from  home.     You 
know  that  one  of  our  New  England  colleges  is  named 
after  him.     He  gave  a  large  sum  of  money  to  endow  it. 
A  fine  picture  of  him  still  graces  one  of  its  halls.     He 
was  a  young  English  nobleman,  rich,  and  handsome,  and 
accomplished  ;  but  he  had  something  far  better  than  all 
these  things.     He  was  sincerely  pious ;  "  he  loved  and 
honored  his  Saviour  ;  and  although,  at  the  time  when  he 
lived,  it  was  the  fashion  to  mock  at  serious  things,  he  was 
never  ashamed  of  his  religion.     The  king  and  some  noble- 
men agreed,  on  one  occasion,  to  take  an  early  morning 
ride.    They  waited  a  few  minutes  for  Lord  Dartmouth.    On 
his  arrival,  one  of  the  company  seemed  disposed  to  call  him 
to   account  for  his  tardiness.     '  I  have  learned  to  wait 
upon  the  King  of  kings  before  I  wait  upon  my  earthly 
sovereign]  was  Lord  Dartmouth 9s  answer.     No  matter 
■what  he  had  to  do,  or  who  wanted  him,  reading  the  Bible 
and  secret  prayer  were  duties  which  he  never  put  qffi" 
Remember  his  example,  and  be  faithful  to  God,  as  he 
was. 

Mr.  "Webster,  in  closing  a  beautiful  eulogy  upon  a 
young  gentleman  of  the  bar,  who  had  recently  died,  said: 
"  Gentlemen,  and  he  did  what  I  fear  many  of  us  have 
not  done — he  achieved  a  religious  character." 


REVIEW  OP  THE  YEAR.  71 

II.  The  other  point  that  I  would  have  you  seriously 
consider  is  the  duty  of  being-  pious  now.  Responsibility 
and  eternity  stand  connected  with  the  flight  of  time. 
Our  present  life  gives  coloring  to  our  whole  future  eter- 
nity. Like  a  mighty  river,  time  flows  on  noiselessly  in 
its  course,  and  we  approach  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 
judgment-seat. 

"  'Tis  greatly  wise  to  talk  witn  our  past  hours, 
And  ask  them  what  account  they  bore  to  heaven." 

Many  of  your  days  are  past — your  days  of  infancy,  of 
childhood,  and  early  youth.  Many  days  of  instruction, 
too,  are  past.  Days  when  God's  voice  was  heard — days 
of  conviction,  when  His  Spirit  strove  with  you — when 
your  companions  united  with  the  Church — days,  too,  of 
judgment,  when  His  arm  was  stretched  out  to  you  in 
affliction  and  warning — and  what  has  been  the  result  ? 
Has  your  instruction  produced  conviction,  and  your  con- 
viction resulted  in  conversion  ?  Have  you  come  to  Christ 
as  a  poor  sinner,  and  received  forgiveness  %  The  weeks, 
months,  and  Sabbaths  of  another  year  are  gone  !  What 
is  the  net  result  or  gain  to  your  soul  of  all  your  past 
years  ?  Does  your  heart — does  the  closet,  the  family,  the 
Church — your  every  sphere  of  duty,  show  that  you  have 
been  doers  of  the  Word,  and  not  hearers  only  ?  During 
the  past  year,  some  of  you  have  had  days  of  prosperity — 
when  new  relationships  were  formed,  and  new  schemes  of 
business  were  brought  to  maturity,  and  new  hopes  were 
fulfilled.  These  days  are  gone,  and  their  remembrance 
is  now  like  a  pleasiug  vision.  But  were  the  causes  and 
measures  of  your  prosperity  such  as  God  approves  ?     Did 


72  LECTUEES  ON  DANIEL. 

holy  angels  sympathize  with  you  in  your  pleasures  and 
pursuits  ? 

Perhaps,  my  dear  friend,  your  review  of  the  past  year 
is  filled  with  sorrows.     You  may  have  had  stroke  upon 
stroke.     Days  of  pain,  of  losses,  of  bereavement,  of  dis- 
appointment, may  have  filled  up  the  year.     Well,  they 
too  are  gone,  and  will  return  no  more.     And  did  the 
Saviour  support  you  by  his  power?  cheer  you  with  his 
promise  ?  animate  you  by  his  own  bright  example  and 
glorious  victories  ?     Then  are  you  prepared  to  bless  Him 
for  the  days  of  your  sorrow.     Then  you  are  living  in  the 
cheerful  expectation  that  the  day  will  soon  come  when 
it  shall  be  found  that  your  trials  and  sorrows  were  the 
seeds   of  an  abundant  harvest  of  joy.     Or  is  the  storm 
still  beating  upon   you?     Are   the   heavens   still   dark 
around  you  ?     Then,  while  you  humble   yourself  under 
the  mighty  hand  of  God,  He  will  exalt  you  in  due  time. 
Ask  of  the  days  that  are  past  where  happiness  is  to  be 
found.     Time  past  is  a  chronicle  and  an  oracle.     Look 
into  this  chronicle  and  see,  ask  this  oracle  and  know.     Is 
sin  profitable  ?     Is  there  a  single  instance  of  one,  regis- 
tered in  the  hoary  chronicles  of  the  past,  who  hardened 
himself  against  his  God  and  prospered  ?     Hark !     The  an- 
swer is  prompt  and  unequivocal,  "The  way  of  transgressors 
is  hard.''     "The  wages  of  sin  is  death."     Millions  of  the 
votaries  of  fashion,  of  the  slaves  of  Mammon,  and  of  the 
worshipers  of  Fame,  have  tried  to  find  happiness  apart 
from  God,  but  all  have  failed.     It  is  a  delusion  to  seek 
happiness  in  the  things  of  the  world.     It  is  a  scheme  of 
the  Evil  One  to  allure  souls  down  to  eternal  death.     But 
does  the  oracle  and  chronicler  of  the  mighty  past  show 


THE  FUTURE  FORETOLD.  73 

aught  against  the  goodness  of  God  ?     Nothing.     Not  a 
syllable.     No  sincere  penitent  has  ever  been  repulsed — 
no  true  mourner  was  ever  sent  away  without  comfort- 
no  praying  soul  rejected — no  trusting  believer  forsaken. 
Maris  manner  of  life  describes  his  character,  and  fore 
tells  his  end.     Young  man,  immortal  you  are — you  must 
live  when  time  is  dead.     Answer,  then,  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  in  prospect  of  eternity,  "What  is  your  course 
of  life  ?  on  what  is  your  heart  set  ?  about  what  have  you 
been  most  anxious  ?     What  do  you  labor  most  to  possess  i 
Which  has  been  esteemed  most  in  your  estimation — the 
favor  of  God  and  the  pardon  of  sin,  or  the  pleasures 
of  this  world  and  the  possession  of  riches  %     By  your 
souVs  preference  and  pursuit  is  your  state  for  eternity  to 
be  judged.    Answer  these  questions  honestly  to  yourselves, 
and  let  not  time's  oracle   speak  in  vain.    Pray,  then, 
with  the  pious  poet : 

"  Teach  me,  0  thou  sacred  Power, 
Every  pulse,  and  every  hour, 
At  Thy  hallowed  cross  to  lie, 
On  Thy  promise  to  relyl" 


/ 


/ 


74  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 


LECTURE  IT. 

V 

PRINCIPLES   AND   LESSONS   FROM   THE   EUPHRATES.* 

On  Dan.  i. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association :  its  Subjects. — Bangers  of  Young  Men  in 
Cities. — Lessons' from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Mississippi. —  Young  Hebrews  in 
Exile  at  Babylon  teaching  young  Men  from  home  at  New  Orleans :  1.  To  ad- 
here to  right  Principles.  2.  That  a  Man  is  no  Loser  for  maintaining  right 
Principles. — True  Expediency. — Use  ofPvMic  Lecturing.  3.  Bedded,  avowed 
religious  Principles. —  General  Cass's  Testimony. — True  Piety  eminently 
Social. — Regular  Church-going. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Scott  read  the  first  chapter  of  Daniel,  and 
then  said : 

Respected  Hearers, — The  vigilance  of  the  Argus-eyed 
daily  prints  of  the  city  have  already  informed  you  of  the 
formation  of  the  "  New  Orleans  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,"  and  that  it  is,  moreover,  at  their  request 
that  I  have  the  honor  of  delivering  before  you  this  even- 
ing their  opening  address,  which,  I  am  happy  to  be  in- 
formed, is  to  be  followed  by  addresses  from  other  gen- 
tlemen of  acknowledged  eloquence  and  ability.  I  have 
read  the  first  chapter  of  Daniel  in  the  introductory  portion 
of  the  services  this  evening,  for  two  reasons  :  1st,  because 
Daniel  is  the  subject  of  a  series  of  discourses  to  young 
men  now  in  the  course  of  delivery  from  this  pulpit  on 

*  Delivered  as  the  opening  address  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  New  Orleans,  Sunday  evening,  January  16,  1853.  Published 
by  the  unanimous  request  of  the  Association.  The  occasion  of  this  Lecture 
will  explain  how  it  is  that  there  are  some  repetitions  of  ideas  found  in  the 
preceding. 


SOLICITUDE  FOR  YOUNG  MEN.  75 

Sabbath  evenings,  and  it  were  desirable  not  to  interrupt 
wholly  this  series.  2dly,  because,  if  I  were  at  perfect 
liberty  to  select  from  the  whole  Bible,  I  do  not  know  that 
I  could  find  any  other  portion  more  suggestive  of  appro- 
priate reflections  for  the  opening  address  of  this  laudable 
Association.  The  first  article  of  the  constitution  declares 
that  the  object  of  this  Association  "is  the  mental,  moral, 
and  religious  improvement  of  young  men."  "  We  aim," 
say  they  in  their  address  to  the  public,  "  so  far  as  is  in 
our  power,  to  counteract  bad  example,  to  throw  around 
our  young  men  an  elevating  moral  influence,  and,  by  so 
doing,  to  cherish  their  earlier  religious  and  moral  im- 
pressions, and  thus  continually  incite  them  to  diligence 
in  well-doing." 

The  duty,  nature,  and  means  of  self-improvement  and 
of  mutual  protection  against  the  perils  of  a  city  life  is, 
therefore,  the  theme  which  I  shall  attempt  to  illustrate 
from  the  example  of  Daniel  and  his  friends  in  Babylon, 
and  apply  to  the  condition  of  young  men  in  our  large 
towns  and  cities,  and  to  the  design  of  this  association. 
And, 

I.  As  to  the  subjects  of  this  Association. — They  are 
young  men,  upon  whom  are  concentrated  the  hopes  and 
prayers  of  the  good  and  patriotic  throughout  the  land. 
jSTo  man  who  looks  understandingly  at  the  interests  of 
mankind,  in  families,  cities,  churches,  or  states,  can  fail 
to  see  that  the  enlightened,  liberal,  and  Christian  educa- 
tion of  the  young  is  the  fountain-head  of  their  well-being. 
The  testimony  of  many  of  the  ablest  and  best  men  of  our 
age  and  of  all  past  ages,  the  sorrowful  confessions  of  many 
mourning  parents,  as  well  as  my  own  deep  convictions  on 


76  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  subject,  have  made  me  believe  that  a  large  portion  of 
Christian  effort  should  be  directed  toward  the  right  moral 
training  of  the  young.  And  there  are  but  few  cities  in 
the  world  where  the  importance  of  the  virtuous  character 
of  young  men  is  a  subject  of  greater  and  more  wide- 
spread interest  than  in  this  city.  This  is  apparent  at 
once  from  the  greatness  of  their  number  among  us,  and 
from  the  commercial  importance  and  relative  position  of 
this  city  to  our  country  and  the  world. 

Under  this  conviction,  I  may  be  excused  in  saying  that 
I  have  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  and  privilege  to  give  my 
Sabbath  evenings,  during  the  winter  and  spring  season, 
for  more  than  ten  years  past,  to  the  delivery  of  discourses 
to  young  men. 

The  pious  Baxter  says  that  in  Kidderminster,  England, 
where  God  most  blessed  his  labors,  "  my  first  and  great- 
est success  was  upon  the  youth.  And  when  God,  in  a 
most  marvelous  way  of  divine  mercy,  had  touched  the 
hearts  of  young  men  and  girls  with  a  love  of  goodness 
and  delightful  obedience  to  the  truth,  the  parents  and 
grandparents,  who  had  grown  old  in  an  ignorant,  worldly 
state,  did  many  of  them  fall  into  a  liking  and  love  of 
piety,  induced  by  the  love  of  their  children,  whom  they 
perceived  to  be  made  by  it  much  wiser  and  better,  and 
more  dutiful  to  them."     (Works,  vol.  xv.,  p.  299.) 

But  aside  from  a  merely  religious  view  of  the  subject, 
no  one  that  has  passed  through  the  trials  of  early  life, 
especially  away  from  home,  and  remembers  its  hopes  and 
fears,  its  discouragements  and  success,  its  joys  and  sor- 
rows, can  think  of  young  men  coming  to  a  strange  city 
and  entering  on  the  same  field  of  action,  of  struggle,  of 


TRIALS  OF  EARLY  LIFE.  77 

success  or  disappointment,  as  they  did,  without  the  deep- 
est sympathy. 

The  young  men,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen  of  this 
Association,  whom  you  seek  to  reach  with  your  kind 
offices,  are  not  the  ordinary  and  common  youth  of  the 
country.  Those  that  forego  the  joys  of  home,  and  the 
cheering  hearth  of  the  paternal  roof,  and  enter  into  the 
fierce  struggles  of  city  life,  are  the  more  excitable,  the 
more  ambitious,  more  able  and  determined  youth  of  the 
country  j*  and  their  danger  in  a  great  city,  where  they 
must  meet  with  great  excitements  and  sensual  allure- 
ments is  in  proportion  to  their  own  excitable  and  ambi- 
tious temperament.  While  the  less  enterprising  are  con- 
tent to  remain  at  home  and  grow  old  under  the  trees  of 
their  native  village,  or  within  sight  of  the  village  steeple, 
the  more  bold  and  ambitious  seek  to  make  their  way 
abroad  to  honor  and  wealth.  And  as  soon  as  they  enter 
a  great  city,  they  encounter  the  competition  of  the  most 
ambitious  and  hardy  spirits  of  an  enterprising  country, 
who  have  got  positions  in  the  field  before  them.  The 
rapacity  of  the  avaricious,  the  temptations  of  the  plea- 
sure-offering seductions,  the  insolence  of  the  proud  and 
successful,  and  the  indifference  of  the  heartless,  make  the 
world  they  enter  into  very  different  from  the  one  they 
have  left  at  home.  Removed  far  from  parental  coun- 
sels and  the  sweet  influence  of  brothers  and  sisters,  they 
are  plunged  at  once  into  a  mass  of  human  beings  who 
know  them  not,  and  care  only  to  know  them  so  far  as 

*  See  this  point  beautifully  and  strongly  presented  in  Mr.  Daniel  Lord's 
address  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  New  York. 


78  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

their  own  selfish  purposes  may  be  served  by  their  ac- 
quaintance. It  is  such  young  men  your  noble  Associa- 
tion proposes  to  take  by  the  hand,  and  point  to  a  suitable 
boarding-house,  and  a  reading-room  and  Christian  associ- 
ates, whose  examples  may  keep  alive  in  them  the  inner 
life  they  have  brought  from  home,  but  which  is  in  dan- 
ger of  being  smothered  to  death  by  the  threatening 
masses  of  a  great  city,  where  a  sense  of  personal  identity 
and  responsibility  may  be  so  easily  lost.  And  when 
your  kindness  has  given  them  a  table  and  a  pillow, 
friends  and  books,  and  a  place  to  worship  their  God,  you 
propose  to  help  them  to  honorable  employment.  In  the 
fierce  competition  of  mercantile  and  professional  life  you 
have  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing  where  situations 
are  to  be  had,  and  by  your  acquaintance  with  young 
men  seeking  employment,  will  be  able  to  point  out  to 
them  such  situations  as  they  are  fitted  to  fill ;  and  thus 
you  may  do  very  great  service  both  to  heads  of  business 
houses  and  to  the  young  men  themselves. 

II.  The  duty  of  self-improvement  is  apparent  from  the 
faculties,  gifts,  and  opportunities  bestowed  upon  us  by 
our  Creator,  and  from  the  duties  required  of  us  ;  and  the 
duty  of  mutual  assistance  in  the  work  of  "  mental,  moral, 
and  religious  improvement"  is  obvious  from  our  social 
and  dependent  nature,  from  the  constitution  of  society, 
and  from  the  express  teachings  of  our  holy  religion.  This 
part  of  our  theme  there  is  not,  however,  time  to  dwell 
upon.  The  means  for  accomplishing  the  objects  of  this 
Association  call  for  more  extended  remarks.  The  end  in 
view  by  you,  young  gentlemen,  is  substantially  the  same 
that  was  desired  and  gained  by- Daniel  and  his  compan- 


THE  YOUNG  HEBREWS  AN  EXAMPLE.  79 

ions,   namely,  honor   and  happiness.      What,  then,  did 
they  do  which  yon  may  imitate  ? 

1.  They  scrupulously  maintained  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious principles  that  had  been  imparted  to  them  in  their 
earlier  education.  They  made  a  supreme  regard  for  the 
will  of  God  their  rule  of  conduct,  even  in  little  things. 
Daniel  and  his  three  friends  seem  to  have  entered  the 
capital  and  palace  of  the  proud  heathen  king,  who  was 
the  great  Napoleon  of  his  day,  just  as  many  young  men 
enter  our  cities,  with  full  purpose  of  heart  to  preserve 
their  integrity,  and  to  keep  their  soul  undefiled  from  the 
various  temptations  which,  in  such  a  place  as  Babylon, 
there  was  every  reason  to  fear  would  assail  them.  They 
probably  thought  on  these  things  as.  they  were  marched 
over  the  weary  sand  deserts  from  Jerusalem  to  the  Eu- 
phrates, and  reckoned  beforehand  that  they  should  have 
to  bear  hard  treatment  from  their  superiors,  and  the 
sneers,  the  shrugs,  and  taunts  of  their  less  pious  compa- 
nions— things  that  fall  keenly  upon  the  raw  sensitiveness 
of  youthful  spirits  ;  but  they  made  up  their  minds  that, 
let  it  cost  what  it  might,  their  religion  they  would  not 
abandon.  And  soon  their  trial  came.  They  were  placed 
in  circumstances  of  great  peril  to  their  principles  by  their 
heathen  conqueror.  The  strength  of  their  attachment  to 
the  religion  of  their  earlier  youth  was  put  to  the  severest 
test.  But  when  tried,  they  were  found  to  be  pure  gold ; 
and  their  triumph  proves  that  a  pious  education  is  one  of 
the  greatest  blessings  that  can  be  bestovfed  upon  youth. 
If  you,  young  men,  have  received  such  an  education,  be 
profoundly  thankful  for  it.  Thank  God  every  day  of 
your  lives  for  Christian  and  intelligent  parents,  who  have 


80  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

secured  to  you  a  liberal  education,  and  endeavor  to  ap- 
preciate its  advantages  by  using  them  for  your  own  hap- 
piness, and  the  good  of  your  fellow-men.  You  need  not 
be  told  of  the  degradation  and  wretchedness  of  ignorance 
and  depravity.  You  need  not  be  told  that  the  infant 
generation  of  to-day  are  the  adult  generation  of  to-mor- 
row, and  that  what  we  make  our  children  the  next  gene- 
ration will  be.  The  first  lessons  a  child  receives  from  a 
mother's  tones  and  smiles  are  the  last  to  fade  from  the 
memory.  The  lessons  of  divine  truth  taught  at  school 
may  be  silenced  for  a  season,  or  overborne  by  the  noise  of 
the  busy  world  without,  yet  there  will  come  an  hour 
when  these  early  lessons  will  revive  as  if  touched  by 
some  living  influence,  that  makes  quite  distinct  and 
fresh  what  was  for  a  time  invisible.  The  lessons  Daniel 
had  learned  in  his  childhood  home  in  Jerusalem  were  the 
lessons  that  sustained  him  against  temptation,  and  guided 
and  comforted  him  while  a  captive  in  Babylon. 

Tie  King  of  Babylon  tried  by  all  means  in  his  power 
to  remove  all  the  religious  impressions  of  these  young 
men,  and  to  make  them  adopt  his  religion.  He  did  not 
on  this  occasion  try  to  root  out  their  principles  and  im- 
plant his  own  by  persecuting  them,  as  if  the  tormenting 
of  the  body  could  convert  the  soul.  He  tried  a  more 
rational  plan.  He  treated  them  well,  gave  them  portions 
from  his  table ;  he  changed  their  names,  hoping  by  thus 
erasing  the  name  of  their  God,  and  supplying  that  of  his 
own,  to  make  tliem  forget  their  early  lessons  and  associ- 
ations, but  he  failed.  Their  principles  were  too  strongly 
rooted.  They  remained  steadfast.  The  refusal  of  these 
young  Hebrews  to  eat  and  drink  of  the  royal  portion  was 


PRINCIPLES.— TRUE  LIBERALITY.  gl 

not  grounded  upon  any  mere  fancy  or  whim,  but  on  the 
most  substantial  reasons.  The  animals  eaten  were  either 
such  as  were  unclean  according  to  Hebrew  law,  or  were 
killed  in  such  a  way  that  the  law  of  Moses  forbade  the 
Jews  to  eat  of  them ;  or,  which  alone  was  a  sufficient 
reason  for  declining,  the  king's  meat  and  wine  had  been 
dedicated  to  his  idols,  and  could  not,  therefore,  be  used 
by  these  pious  Hebrews  without  compromitting  them 
with  heathenism.  Nor  were  they  over  righteous  in  this 
firm  but  courteous  refusal.  Nor  were  they  narrow  and 
bigoted  sectarians.  They  were  liberal  Christians,  but 
not  latitudinarians.  The  Bible  and  the  very  nature  of 
the  human  mind  command  us  to  be  liberal,  but  forbid  us 
to  be  latitudinarian.  True  liberality  of  sentiment  and 
largeness  of  soul  ar*e  the  attributes  of  strength  and  con- 
viction of  one's  own  mind.  But  latitudinarianism  gives 
up  essential  foundation  principles,  and  says  there  is  no 
difference  between  right  and  wrong — that  it  is  equally  a 
matter  of  indifference  what  a  man  believes,  or  whether  he 
believes  any  thing  at  all.  Dr.  Cumming,  of  London,  on 
this  part  of  Daniel's  life,  says :  "We  cannot  be  too  liberal 
in  conceding  to  a  brother  the  largest  husks  of  his  pre- 
judices; we  cannot  be  too  strict  in  refusing  to  com- 
promise the  least  living  seed  of  vital  and  essential  truth." 
(See  his  Lectures  on  Daniel.) 

It  is  true  that  it  was  not  in  itself  sinful  to  eat  meat  and 
drink  wine ;  nor  was  it  sinful  to  eat  meat  and  drink  wine 
with  a  king ;  but  it  was  sinful  for  Hebrews  to  eat  and 
drink  in  honor  of  idols.  There  are,  however,  not  wanting 
those  who  say  these  young  men  were  at  liberty  to  do  in 
Babylon  as  Babylon  did.     In  London,  Rome,  or  New 


G 


fTnTI7!F-ITYl 


82  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Orleans,  young  men  must  do  as  those  around  them  do. 
Such  a  plea  cannot  be  maintained  with  seriousuess.  Duty 
is  not  a  thing  of  latitude  and  longitude.  It  is  the  same 
thing  everywhere.  Conscience  and  God  are  the  same 
in  Paris  or  Constantinople,  as  in  your  New  England  or 
Scottish  homes.  Polar  snows  or  tropical  flowers  cannot 
change  the  eternal  principles  of  rectitude.  Go.d's  laws, 
the  will  of  the  Supreme  Creator,  is  the  only  standard  of 
duty.  This  was  the  rule  adopted  by  the  pious  Hebrew 
captives.  To  eat  and  drink  of  the  royal  bounty  was  in 
itself  nothing ;  but  as  by  so  doing  they  would  be  con- 
sidered as  sympathizing  with  idolatry,  and  as  having 
denied  the  religion  of  their  parents,  of  their  country,  and 
their  God,  they  refused,  and  were  prepared  to  run  all 
hazards  rather  than  comply.  They  chose  to  live  on  pulse 
and  water,  the  least  nutritious  of  the  elements  of  nature, 
rather  than  the  dainties  of  the  royal  table ;  because  they 
thought,  and  thought  correctly,  that  a  good  conscience 
and  the  smiles  of  the  God  of  heaven  were  of  more  im- 
portance than  the  patronage  of  the  mightiest  king  that 
ever  swayed  an  earthly  sceptre. 

It  was  not  the  mere  concession  of  a  prejudice,  not  the 
mere  giving  up  of  some  little  matters  of  denominational 
detail ;  but  the  surrender  of  principle,  compromise  of 
truth,  apostacy  from  the  true  religion,  that  they  were 
required  to  submit  to.  And  the  lesson  taught  us  is  of 
vast  importance.  It  is  that  we  must  not  sacrifice  con- 
science, with  its  awful  requirements,  to  any  temporary  or 
worldly  convenience.  We  must  not  stifle  its  deep  con- 
victions to  gain  any  temporary  and  evanescent  advantage. 
We  must  not  give  up  an  article  of  our  creed  to  gain  a 


IMPORTANCE  OP  A  GOOD  CHARACTER.  83 

place.  It  is  better  to  die  of  starvation  than  gain  a  val- 
uable living  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  soul.  It  is  a  light 
thing  to  be  judged  of  man,  for  He  that  judgeth  us  is  God. 
Our  Lord  has  said,  "  He  that  is  faithful  in  a  little  is 
faithful  also  in  much;  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  a  little  is 
unjust  also  in  much."  The  bearing  of  the  history  of  the 
Hebrew  youths,  and  of  this  Scripture  text  on  our  every- 
day life,  is  palpable,  even  among  those  who  do  not  pro- 
fess to  be  Christians.  A  young  man  of  talents  and 
business  capacity  may  destroy  all  his  prospects  for  honor- 
able success  in  life  by  small  derelictions.  Dead  flies  will 
destroy  the  largest  pot  of  the  most  precious  ointment.  The 
want  of  moral  character  will  mar  the  prospects  of  the  most 
gifted.  Without  stern  integrity  in  little  things,  there  is  a 
want  of  confidence  which  is  fatal  to  success.  A  most  per- 
nicious delusion  prevails  with  many  good  people.  They 
are  waiting  until  they  can  do  some  great  thing,  and 
think  that  if  a  great  crisis  were  to  come,  they  would  then 
have  nerve  to  meet  it,  and  do  something  triumphant. 
They  cannot  find,  at  present,  a  place  large  enough  for  the 
discharge  of  their  duties.  Because  they  cannot  go  as 
foreign  missionaries,  they  will  not  labor  in  the  Sabbath- 
school  at  home.  As  there  is  no  romance  in  gathering  in 
the  poor  and  ragged  to  the  house  of  God  to  be  taught  the 
way  of  virtue  and  godliness,  they  will  do .  nothing.  In- 
stead of  quietly  laying  one  brick  upon  the  earth,  they  are 
constantly  building  castles  in  the  air;  instead  of  dis- 
charging the  plain  every-day  duty  which  they  owe  to 
God  and  their  fellow-men,  they  pass  life  in  looking  for 
some  grand  occasion  for  the  display  of  their  virtues. 
They  vainly  think  that,  though  they  live  not  as  useful 


84  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Christians,  yet,  if  the  crisis  were  to  come,  they  would  die 
as  martyrs.  They  are  mistaken.  With  them  the  crisis 
has  come,  and  they  have  failed  to  meet  it.  They  have 
failed  to  take  the  tide  in  human  affairs  that  rolls  on  to 
the  fortune  of  duties  well  done.  The  little  things  that 
are  usually  the  turning-points  of  character,  they  have  not 
apprehended.  They  have  not  learned  that  events  which 
seem  at  first  frivolous  and  unimportant,  may  become  the 
"  Thermopylae  of  a  Christian's  conflict,  the  Marathon  of  a 
nation's  being,  or  the  turning-point  of  everlasting  life  or 
of  everlasting  death."  The  dazzling  exploits  of  the  great 
are  too  frequently  ascribed  to  circumstances,  and  set 
down  as  something  wholly  beyond  our  reach,  because  we 
have  not  the  same  emergencies  to  bring  us  out.  Al- 
though Providence  may  deny  to  you  such  circumstances 
as  might  concur  in  making  you  exactly  like  the  great 
heroes  of  the  world,  still,  in  the  essential  elements  of 
greatness — in  purity  of  principle,  industry  and  perse- 
verance, and  in  life-long,  fervent  devotion  to  the  welfare 
of  their  country,  you  may  be  like  them.  Integrity  and 
patriotism  are  not  patented  to  any  sect,  age,  or  nation. 
It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  young  men  sometimes 
copy  the  single  vice  of  a  great  man,  without  attempting 
to  imitate  his  many  virtues.  They  are  like  the  filthy 
birds  of  prey  that  fly  over  a  whole  continent  of  healthful 
beauties  to  light  on  one  carcass.  Their  only  resemblance 
to  the  great  man  they  profess  to  admire  is  the  one  blemish 
that  constituted  his  weakness.  They  can  drink  gin  like 
Lord  Byron,  and  so  can  an  idiot  or  a  clown ;  but  are  not 
worthy  to  unloose  his  shoe-latchet  as  to  genius  and  intel- 
lect, energy,  chivalry,  and  noble  bearing. 


FILTHY  BIRDS.— PRINCIPLES  PARAMOUNT.  85 

The  pgint  with  Daniel  was  to  follow  his  conscience  or 
his  appetite ;  to  cease  to  be  an  Israelite,  or  cease  to  be  a 
favorite  of  the  great  King  of  Babylon.  And  his  deter- 
mination was  soon  made  to  make  every  thing  give  way 
to  his  religion.  He  would  not  let  his  religion  bow  to  the 
world,  but  made  the  world  bow  to  his  religion. 

2.  The  next  lesson  which  the  Euphrates  sends  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  reads  to  us  from  the  early  life  of  Baby- 
lon's vizier  or  prime-minister  and  his  friends  is,  that  a 
man  is  no  loser  for  maintaining  right  principles.  The 
three  years  of  training  are  ended.  The  high  court  of 
learning  is  held  in  Babylon.  There  are  the  treasures  of 
the  world.  There  are  assembled  the  nobles,  grandees, 
and  sages  of  the  kingdom.  The  king  himself  presides. 
And  now  the  chief  of  the  eunuchs  introduces  to  the  royal 
presence  these  four  Hebrew  youths.  How  fair,  well 
formed,  and  intelligent  they  look  !  Minute,  and  search- 
ing, and  repeated  examination  convinces  the  king  that 
they  are  ten  times  wiser  than  his  magicians  and  astro- 
logers. And  while  only  four  are  to  be  chosen  out  of  all 
the  captives  that  had  been  fed  and  instructed  in  know- 
ledge and  languages  for  the  royal  use,  these  Hebrews  are 
the  four  chosen  ones.  An  interesting  story  is  told  in 
Esdras,  one  of  the  Apocryphal  books — which  was  extant 
before  the  time  of  Josephus,  for  he  quotes  largely  from  it 
— of  the  mental  contests  of  these  youths,  which,  as  an 
illustration  of  this  Oriental  custom,  is  worthy  of  being 
read.  The  examination  of  the  four  Hebrews  presents  a 
noble  example  of  the  success  of  prudence,  temperance, 
and  a  steady  regard  to  religion.  These  young  men  did 
not  think,  because  they  were  well  born  and  liberally 


86  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

educated,  that  they  might  therefore  indulge  their^appetites 
without  control.  On  the  contrary,  with  heroic  steadfast- 
ness they  made  the  will  of  God,  even  in  little  things,  their 
rule  of  conduct.  And  what  was  the  result.  Did  Daniel 
lose  any  good  thing  by  his  firm  adherence  to  principle  ? 
!Not  at  all.  The  very  reverse  was  the  result.  Daniel's 
faithfulness  to  his  conscience,  his  allegiance  to  his  God, 
his  courteous  but  firm  refusal  to  do  what  was  sinful,  was 
turned  to  his  advantage,  even  in  this  world.  Upon  ex- 
amination, the  Hebrew  youths  were  found,  at  the  end  of 
the  three  years,  to  have  become  more  comely  than  they 
were  before,  and  to  be  ten  times  more  comely,  fatter,  and 
fairer  than  any  of  the  other  captive  young  men  who  had 
lived  upon  the  royal  bounty ;  and  in  all  matters  of  know- 
ledge and  skill  they  were  many  times  wiser  than  all  the 
astrologers  and  magicians  in  the  kingdom.  Them  that 
honor  God,  He  honors.  The  result  of  their  faithfulness 
to  God  was  their  promotion  in  the  palace,  and  the  favor 
of  the  king.  What,  then,  is  the  true  principle  of  ex- 
pediency for  young  men?  We  answer,  True  principle  is 
true  expediency.  Duty  is  the  way  of  peace  and  promo- 
tion. Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  other  things  will  he '  added  unto  you.  The 
success  of  these  young  men  was  owing  to  their  good 
education,  and  the  blessing  of  God  upon  their  education 
and  their  own  efforts.  Josephus  says  of  them,  that  "  by 
the  diet  they  took,  they  had  their  minds  in  some  measure 
more  pure  and  less  burdened,  and  so  fit  for  learning,  and 
had  their  bodies  in  better  condition  for  hard  labor ;  for 
their  bodies  were  not  oppressed  by  a  variety  of  meats,  nor 
effeminate  for  the  same  reason,  so  they  readily  amassed 


RATIONALE  OF  THEIR  SUCCESS.  87 

• 

all  the  learning  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  Chaldeans/'  It 
is  true,  proverbially  true,  that  he  who  striveth  for  the 
mastery  must  be  temperate  in  all  things.  Temperance  is 
highly  favorable  both  to  health  and  virtue,  by  keeping  the 
faculties  clear  and  strong,  and  in  fitting  men  for  great 
services,  and  the  endurance  of  great  sufferings. 

The  great  commanders  and  the  great  scholars  of  the 
world  have  been  remarkable,  while  young  men,  for  tem- 
perance in  eating  and  drinking.  Nothing  more  effec- 
tually blasts  the  prospects  of  a  young  man  than  the  soul- 
destroying  sin  of  intemperance.  The  explanation,  how- 
ever, of  the  Jewish  historian  of  the  wonderful  pheno- 
menon does  not  give  the  whole  rationale  of  the  experi- 
ment made  by  these  young  Hebrews.  God  gave  them 
favor  with  the  king  and  his  court,  and  God  gave  them 
skill  and  wisdom ;  yet  God  gave  his  favor  to  them  in  the 
most  diligent  use  of  the  best  means,  and  in  the  use  of 
the  best  means  according  to  His  will.  They  were  blessed 
in  doing  all  they  could  themselves.  God  helps  those  that 
help  themselves. 

It  is  reasonable  for  young  men  to  ask  God  for  help  in 
mental  as  well  as  in  spiritual  efforts.  He  is  the  father  of 
the  Spirit  as  well  as  the  maker  of  the  body.  In  the  toil 
and  business  of  life,  and  amid  all  its  perplexing  difficulties, 
cast  yourself,  therefore,  upon  the  Lord's  protection,  and 
look  to  Him  for  counsel  and  guidance!  It  is  easy  for  Him 
to  "illumine  what  in  you  is  dark."  It  is  an  old  saying, 
that  to  pray  earnestly  is  to  study  well.  Many  difficulties 
that  seem  insuperable  would  be  smoothed,  many  blessed 
thoughts  might  be  suggested,  many  desirable  things  for- 
gotten   be    brought   to   mind  again,  many  annoyances 


88  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

buried,  many  weak  purposes  strengthened,  if  we  trusted 
more  to  God,  and  looked  more  confidently  to  Him  for 
His  blessing  upon  our  earnest  endeavors  to  know  and  do 
His  will. 

Josephus's  solution  of  the  wonderful  improvement  in 
his  young  countrymen  at  Babylon  reminds  us  of  many 
modern  philosophers,  who  find  God  nowhere.  In  the 
plague,  or  pestilence,  or  epidemic,  in  wars  or  revolutions, 
in  the  facts  and  phenomena  of  science,  history,  creation, 
or  providence,  or  even  in  the  miracles  of  Holy  Scripture, 
they  see  nothing  but  something  they  call  laws.  Their 
stereotyped  explanation  for  every  thing  is,  "  such  is  the 
law  of  Nature."  And  what  is  Nature,  and  what  are  Na- 
ture's laws,  without  a  Creator  ?  The  laws  of  Nature  are 
nothing  but  the  impressions  of  the  ineffable  Mind  that 
created  and  governs  all  things  made  visible,  or,  at  least, 
rendered  palpable  by  their  effects.  I  am  persuaded, 
therefore,  that  the  objects  of  this  Association  will  be  all 
the  more  readily  and  surely  attained,  as  they  may  be 
sought  by  imitating  Bible  heroes,  such  as  Joseph  and 
Daniel ;  and  as  they  may  be  pursued  in  obedience  to  the 
Divine  will,  as  revealed  to  us  by  the  prophets  and  apos- 
tles, holy  men  of  old,  who  wrote  the  Scriptures  as  they 
were  moved  thereto  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

III.  Let  us,  then,  briefly  examine  in  this  light  the  ob- 
jects of  this  Association. 

One  object  is  the  social  improvement  and  protection  to 
those  of  your  own  age  who  grow  up  here,  or  come  among 
you  from  a  distance.  The  propriety  of  such  an  associa- 
tion for  such  an  object  is  suggested  at  once  from  the 
acknowledged  power  of  society  and  of  united  efforts, 


OBJECTS  OF  THIS  ASSOCIATION.  89 

especially  over  those  who  are  allied  to  one  another  by  a 
similarity  of  enjoyments,  tastes,  wants,  temptations,  and 
dangers.  Your  object  is  also  conservative,  that  is,  the 
preservation  of  your  more  inexperienced  brethren  from 
the  impositions  and  perils  incident  to  a  residence  in  a 
great  and  luxurious  city.  You  seek  to  do  for  them  here 
what  their  parents  and  friends  have  done  for  them  in  their 
distant  homes  and  earlier  years.  Your  object  is  also 
elevating.  You  propose  to  have  a  reading-room,  and 
journals  and  books  for  the  use  of  those  young  men  who 
may  be  associated  with  you.  You  design  to  supply  the 
hours  of  relaxation  with  employments  that  will  both 
amuse  and  improve,  by  affording  opportunities  of  con- 
versation with  those  of  your  own  age  and  pursuits,  and 
for  hearing  instructive  lectures  from  men  of  approved 
talent  and  sentiment. 

You  need  not  be  told  that  public  lecturings  are  now 
one  of  the  chief  means  of  enlightening  the  world.  There 
never  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  the 
public  mind  was  so  much  occupied  with  printed  and  oral 
lectures  as  it  is  now.  Lectures  in  Europe  and  in  this 
country  are  now  delivered  on  all  sorts  of  subjects  and  by 
all  kinds  of  individuals,  from  English  lords  and  French 
peers  to  American  husbands'  better  halves.  Dull,  trashy, 
flimsy,  skeletonized,  and  superficial  as  many  of  the  lec- 
tures imposed  upon  a  patient  public  are,  still,  the  great 
thinkers  of  our  times,  and  the  standard-bearers  of  civiliza- 
tion in  past  ages,  have  been,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term, 
lecturers.  Not  a  few  professional  lecturers  have  made 
fortunes  by  their  discourses.  It  is  a  strange  but  interest- 
ing feature  of  our  generation,  that  lecturing  is  almost  as 


90  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

good  a  profession  as  that  of  a  great  vocalist,  and  fre- 
quently far  better  than  the  law  or  medicine.  In  Europe, 
the  men  who'"  stand  upon  the  forehead  of  the  coming  age 
are  lecturers."  The  platform  is  more  mighty  than  the 
University,  for  it  is  a  cosmopolitan  college,  without  test 
oaths,  and  almost  without  money  and  price.  The  best 
scholars  and  most  influential  men  of  the  country  have 
perfected  their  education  in  the  lecture-room.  The  print- 
ing-press, the  Protean,  ubiquitous,  daily  newspaper  press, 
public  schools,  and  public  lecturing  from  the  platform 
and  the  pulpit,  and  from  the  professors  of  our  law  and 
medical  schools,  are  the  great  educators  of  our  age.  It 
were,  therefore,  exceedingly  desirable  for  you  to  secure  a 
controlling  influence  in  these  great  agencies.  The  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  of  London  have  had  each 
year,  for  a  number  of  seasons,  a  regular  course  of  lectures 
before  them  by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
Great  Britain.  The  same  course  is  pursued  by  the  as- 
sociation in  New  York.  Men  of  science  are  no  longer 
shut  up  in  their  laboratories  or  observatories,  or  confined 
to  their  classes  in  the  University.  They  now  seek  op- 
portunities for  imparting  the  knowledge  of  their  dis- 
coveries or  the  results  of  their  experiments  and  investiga- 
tions to  the  public.  Our  age  is  truly  remarkable  for 
popularizing  literature,  science,  and  art.  The  rapidity 
with  which  winged  words  grow  into  facts,  and  witkwhich 
the  results  of  the  profoundest  theory  and  the  most  patient 
and  thorough  experiments  are  applied  to  popular  use,  is 
most  astonishing.  Yoices  that  move  senates,  and  control 
courts,  and  sway  assembled  masses  of  the  "fierce  de- 
mocratic," are  now  heard  imparting  reason  and  argument, 


RELIGIOUS  PRINCIPLES  IN  SOCIAL  LIFE.  91 

and  the  results  of  life-long  study  and  experience,  to  the 
multitudes  who,  in  the  best  days  of  the  classic  ages,  were 
considered  the  "  unwashed  and  profane,"  who  were  shut 
out  from  all  sympathy  with  the  truths  of  philosophy  and 
the  blessings  of  knowledge,  and  doomed  forever  to  be 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water.  These  delusions 
have  passed  away  forever. 

Your  object  is  also  religious — not,  indeed,  to  proselyte 
or  fill  the  mind  with  dead  sectarian  dogmas,  but  to 
encourage  one  another  in  firm  adherence  to  religious 
principles,  and,  by  your  own  example  of  a  pure  and  holy 
life,  preach  the  most  powerful  sermons  in  favor  of  the 
ways  of  heavenly  wisdom.  The  object  of  this  Association 
is  not  religious,  in  the  cold  sense  of  schoolmen  and  theo- 
logians, but  religious  as  to  the  bearings  of  pure  Chris- 
tianity upon  social  life.  It  is  manifestly  a  perversion  of 
the  Bible  to  make  it  enjoin  or  sanction  a  hermit  life,  as 
it  is  also  a  failure  as  to  self-cultivation.  The  highest 
piety  has  not  been  found  in  the  professed  secret  commu- 
nion of  the  heart  with  its  Maker  on  the  tops  of  mountains 
and  pillars,  and  in  the  caves  and  deserts  of  the  earth. 
The  highest  piety  does  not  consist  in  deserting  the  ordi- 
nary commerce  of  men,  for  fear  of  its  distractions,  con- 
taminations, and  dangers,  but  in  meeting  them,  and 
maintaining  one's  principles  immaculate. 

I  rejoice  that  you  have  incorporated  with  "  mental  and 
moral"  the  term  "  religious  improvement ;"  for  I  am  per- 
suaded that  every  plan  of  social  improvement,  or  social 
enjoyment  and  usefulness,  not  resting  on  the  basis  of 
religious  principle,  will  be  uncertain  both  as  to  its  final 
tendencies  and  as  to  its  permanency.     Nothing  but  a 


92  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

sense  of  a  personal  religious  accountability  can  give  life 
to  any  scheme  of  human  advancement.  With  earnest- 
ness, an  aged  senator  (Mr.  Cass,)  at  Washington,  said,  in 
his  place,  a  few  days  since : 

"  I  am  free  to  confess,  sir,  that  for  myself,  I  rejoice  at 
the  occasion  thus  given  to  us,  while  pleading  for  the  full 
toleration  of  religion,  to  bear  our  testimony  on  its  price- 
less value.  Independent  of  its  connection  with  the  hu- 
man destiny  hereafter,  I  believe  the  fate  of  republican 
governments  is  indissolubly  bound  up  with  the  fate  of 
the  Christian  religion,  and  that  a  people  who  reject  its 
holy  faith  will  find  themselves  the  slaves  of  their  own 
evil  passions,  and  of  arbitrary  power.  And  I  am  free  to 
acknowledge  that  I  do  not  see  altogether  without  anxiety 
some  of  the  signs  which  are  shadowed  forth  around  us. 

"  A  weak  and  sublimating  imagination  with  some,  and 
irregular  passions  with  others,  are  producing  founders 
and  followers  of  strange  doctrines,  whose  tendencies  it  is 
easier  to  perceive  than  it  is  to  account  for  their  origin 
and  progress.  But  they  will  find  their  career  and  their 
remedy,  not  in  legislation,  but  in  a  sound  religious  opin- 
ion, whether  they  inculcate  an  appeal  to  God  by  means 
of  stocks  and  stones,  and  rappings — the  latest  and  the 
most  ridiculous  experiment  upon  human  credulity — 
or  whether  they  seek  to  pervert  the  Scriptures  to  the 
purposes  of  their  own  libidinous  passions,  by  destroying 
that  safeguard  of  religion  and  social  order,  the  institation 
of  marriage,  and,  by  leading  lives  of  unrestricted  inter- 
course, thus  making  proselytes  to  a  miserable  imposture, 
unworthy  of  our  nature,  by  the  temptations  of  unbridled 
lust. 


PIETY  NOT  A  GOWN  NOR  REGIMENTAL.  93 

"This  same  trial  was  made  in  Germany  some  three 
centuries  ago,  in  a  period  of  strange  abominations,  and 
failed.  And  it  will  fail  here.  Where  the  Word  of  God 
is  free  to  all,  no  such  vile  doctrine  can  permanently 
establish  itself." 

There  is  no  preaching  like  a  kind  and  social  example, 
no  argument  so  effective  as  the  exhibition  of  religious 
character  in  the  vicissitudes  of  every-day  life.  One  great 
reason  of  the  failure  of  Christianity  in  not  producing  the 
effects  desired  upon  Christendom  is,  that  its  practical 
nature  is  not  acted  out  in  the  life  of  professed  Christians. 
They  do  not  constrain  the  world  by  the  social  contact  and 
the  free  and  warm  intercourse  of  a  loving  heart. 

True  religion  is  not  a  cold,  austere,  forbidding,  mere 
psalm-singing,  long-faced  thing.  It  is  not  a  mere  Sunday 
dress,  to  be  hung  up  in  the  vestry,  as  the  clergyman  does 
his  gown,  all  the  rest  of  the  week.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  a  thing  of  life,  a  "  thing  of  beauty  which  is  a  joy  for- 
ever." It  is  full  of  motion,  grace,  and  unction.  It  holds 
no  parley  with  vice.  It  requires  severe  and  persevering 
piety,  but  it  is  intensely  practical  and  eminently  social  in 
all  its  bearings.  Instead  of  being  a  mere  catalogue  of  hard 
names  and  dry  propositions,  it  is  a  vital  and  diffusive 
spirit.  It  mingles  itself  not  only  with  the  inner  life,  but 
sanctifies  every  action  of  the  outer  life.  It  applies  its 
holy  teachings  to  all  our  relations,  personal,  domestic,  and 
public.  It  is  by  intimate  and  vivid  associations  with 
men  of  like  passions  with  themselves,  and  of  like  dangers, 
who,  amid  the  furor  of  passions  and  the  imminency  of 
dangers,  exhibit  the  simplicity  and  earnestness  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  its  power  is  to  be  clearly  seen. 


94:  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

The  Bible  does  not  tolerate  a  lukewarm,  lopsided, 
segmental  Christianity ;  but  a  deep,  equable,  and  over- 
flowing, circumferential,  whole-bodied,  whole-hearted 
piety,  a  piety  that  is  in  strong  sympathy  with  our  indi- 
viduality in  this  up-and-down  world,  that  seizes  the  soul 
and  fastens  upon  it  the  great  vitalized  convictions  of 
truth,  as  it  flowed  from  the  lips  of  the  Divine  Saviour, 
and  carries  them  out  into  the  parlor  and  the  highways  of 
life.  The  bearing  of  the  examples  in  hand  upon  you, 
young  men,  is  palpable.  You  should  seek  such  places  of 
residence,  and  such  associates,  and  give  attendance  upon 
such  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  as  will  most  effectually 
assist  you  in  maintaining  correct  religious  principles. 

You  must  choose  for  yourselves  your  church,  and  your 
associates,  and  your  business ;  but  I  urge  you  to  choose 
such  as  will  be  consistent  with  what  your  conscience  tells 
you  to  do.  Join  yourselves  to  some  Christian  congre- 
gation. Be  regular  and  punctual  in  your  attendance 
upon  the  pulpit  instruction  of  some  servant  of  God.  The 
benefits  you  may  derive  by  so  doing  are  manifold.  Such 
a  course  would  keep  you  out  of  the  way  of  many  temp- 
tations, and  would  fortify  your  principles  and  increase 
your  respectability.  Enter  into  no  business  where  you 
are  required  to  violate  your  conscience.  Engage  in  no 
business  where  it  seems  to  be  necessary  to  violate  the 
Sabbath,  or  to  neglect  the  public  preaching  of  God's 
"Word.  If  the  issue  is  made,  a  continuance  in  such  and 
such  business,  and  a  good  living,  or  the  sacrifice  of 
Christian  duties,  you  must  not  hesitate.  God  is  to  be 
obeyed  rather  than  man.  Duty  is  ours,  and  God  will 
take  care  of  the  consequences.     Nothing  is  plainer,  from 


ATTEND  CHURCH.— FOLLOW  DUTY.  95 

the  highest  testimony  and  observation  on  the  course  of 
things,  as  well  as  on  the  philosophy  of  the  physical  con- 
stitution of  men  and  of  animals,  than  that  by  sacrificing 
your  Sabbaths  you  will,  in  the  end,  be  losers,  even  in  a 
temporal  point  of  view.  There  has  yet  to  be  produced  a 
single  instance  in  which  true  Christian  principle  has  not 
been  found  the  highest  expediency. 

The  Bible  vade  mecum  for  young  men  is,  "  Fear  God 
and  keep  his  commandments."  Make  religion  the  great 
thing  of  your  hearts  and  lives,  and  all  the  rest  will  fol- 
low in  its  place.  "  True  godliness  hath  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come." 
The  knowledge  of  our  Creator  is  before  all  other  things. 
You  should  study  science,  and  observe  men  and  things  ; 
but  not  science,  not  philosophy,  not  literature,  not  music, 
nor  painting  first,  and  then  Christianity,  but  Christianity 
first  of  all.  Take  the  knowledge  of  God  into  the  school, 
into  the  University,  into  the  learned  professions,  and  into 
the  encyclopedia  of  life,  as  first  and  last.  You  should 
not  go  through  college,  and  through  the  world,  and  come 
to  Christ  last,  but  seek  first  to  know  him  whom  to  know 
aright  is  eternal  life. 

Secular  knowledge,  tdeep  and  varied,  we  would  have 
you  all  diligently  seek ;  but  we  would  also  have  you  pos- 
sess true  piety,  which  will  adorn,  exalt,  and  sanctify  you 
as  students,  and  make  you  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven. The  first  and  highest  study  of  every  man  is  the 
safety  of  his  soul.  And  no  man  ever  yet  gained  the 
world  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  soul,  though  many  have 
made  this  wretched  experiment.  Our  Saviour  says,  "  If 
you  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  your  own  soul,  what 


96  LECTUKES  ON  DANIEL. 

shall  it  profit  you  ?"  The  meaning  is  not  that  if  you  set 
out  to  gain  the  world  by  sacrificing  your  soul,  you  must 
succeed.  The  result  is  certainly,  in  most  cases,  far  other- 
wise. Those  that  set  out  to  gain  the  world  by  sacrific- 
ing the  soul,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  lose 
both.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  sets  out 
in  life  determined  to  provide  first  for  his  soul,  and  then 
pursue  and  enjoy  the  world  as  it  may  be  found  subser- 
vient to  and  consistent  with  his  soul's  salvation,  finds,  if 
not  the  greatest  abundance  of  worldly  things,  yet  far  the 
greatest  enjoyment.  Pulse  and  water  are  far  better  with 
the  blessing  of  God,  than  the  king's  meat  and  the  king's 
wine  without  it. 

Finally,  let  me  say  to  you,  young  gentlemen  of  this 
Association,  you  have  done  nobly  in  beginning  this  en- 
terprise. Grow  not  weary  in  your  undertaking.  Your 
high  calling  savors  of  that  divine  charity  which  is  "  the 
perfume  of  the  blossoms  of  the  Tree  of  Life."  In  doing 
good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  your  fellow-men — in  find- 
ing situations  for  them,  places  of  rest,  relaxation,  and 
improvement,  and  places  for  them  to  worship  God,  and 
retreats  for  them  in  sickness,  and  succor  in  temptation 
and  want — you  most  nearly  resemble  the  Son  of  God, 
who  spent  his  life  in  doing  good  to  men.  And  whether 
or  not  you  succeed  in  doing  all  your  hearts  have  pur- 
posed for  others,  still  your  efforts  cannot  fail  as  it  regards 
yourself.  God  is  a  good  paymaster.  He  gives  back 
again  with  large  interest,  good  measure,  and  pressed 
down,  and  shaken  together,  and  running  over.  The  his- 
tory of  Joseph  and  Daniel  strikingly  proves  this.  I  doubt 
not   the  wise,  patriotic,   and  good  will  give  you  their 


HAPPIEST  THOUGHT^  IN"  DEATH.  97 

hearty  co-operation.  Your  example  and  efforts  will  en- 
courage  a  public  spirit,  and  the  exercise  of  social  virtues, 
and  the  permanence  of  good  laws.  From  your  ranks  a 
discerning  public  will  look  for  statesmen,  public  men, 
and  merchants  of  wealth,  who  shall  be  examples  of  social 
virtue  and  true  religion.  Our  high  places  in  the  Church 
and  the  State  must  soon  be  filled  from  your  numbers. 
And  perhaps  the  happiest  thought  on  your  dying  bed 
will  be  that  you  leave  your  mantle  to  some  young  man 
occupying  a  useful  and  honorable  position  in  society, 
whom  you  took  by  the  hand  when  he  came  a  stranger  to 
the  city  and  helped  to  a  situation,  and  led  to  the  house 
of  God,  and  by  your  timely  aid  and  influence  his  life  has 
become  one  of  honor  and  usefulness.  Such  a  result  may 
well  be  said  to  be  a  monument  in  your  memory  that  will 
fade  last  on  earth,  and  loom  up  first  and  brightest  in 
eternity.  They  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  shall 
shine  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever.  In  the  examination 
of  the  great  day,  may  you  all  be  found  worthy  to  stand 
before  the  Eternal  King.     Amen. 


98  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 


LECTUKE  V. 

THE   LOST   DREAM. 

On  Dan.,  iL,  1-30. 

DanieTs  personal  Relations. — The  Triangle. — Rail-road  via  Orontes  to  India. 
— JosiaK's  Death. — DanieVs  Times. — His  Chronology  explained. —  Oriental 
Salutations. — Professors  of  occult  Sciences. —  Chaldeans. — Punishment  of 
the  wise  Men. — Altercation  with  the  King. — Prophetic  Dreams  from  God. — 
DanieVs  Answer  to  the  King. — Resemblance  to  Joseph. — Inferences :  1.  How 
contemptible  a  Tyrant  in  a  Passion.  2.  God  is  in  Modern  History  as  well  as 
in  Ancient. —  Washington  not  a  Pantheist. — Politics  and  Religion. — Must 
read  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  the  New. — Erasmus  on  Reading  the  Bible. 
— Infallible,  unfailing  Source  of  Relief  to  all  young  Men  in  Trouble. 

To  understand  the  history  and  writings  of  Daniel,  it  is 
necessary  to  remember  his  relation  to  two  other  prophets 
and  to  three  kings,  all  of  whom  are  frequently  named  in 
the  Scriptures.  These  three  kings  are,  Pharaoh-nechoh 
of  Egypt,  Jehoiakim  in  Jerusalem,  and  Nebuchadnezzar 
in  Babylon.  It  is  curious  that  something  like  an  equila- 
teral triangle,  whose  base  should  be  a  line  from  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  near  which  stood  the  city  of  Susa,  also  called 
Persepolis,  running  west  to  the  Mediterranean,  would 
comprise  that  portion  of  our  globe  most  renowned  in  the 
history  of  ancient  times.  "With  this  line  for  a  base,  and 
the  Mediterranean  on  the  west  side,  and  the  Euphrates  on 
the  east  side,  and  the  apex  in  the  Mountains  of  Lebanon 
or  of  Northern  Syria,  we  have  the  area  of  the  supposed 
Garden  of  Eden,  and  the  sites  of  Tyre,  Sidon,  Babylon, 
Nineveh,  Edom,  Petra,  Mecca,  and  the  cities  of  the  Philis- 
tines, Egypt,  and  the  Holy  Land.     Any  one  that  will  take 


DANIEL'S  CONNECTIONS.  99 

the  trouble  to  look  at  a  map  of  Asia  and  Africa,  will  see 
that  from  Alexandria  the  Mediterranean  shore  inclines  to 
the  east,  and  that  as  one  ascends  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Tigris,  he  travels  west  as  well  as  north,  so  that  the  head 
of  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  northeastern  side 
of  the  Mediterranean  come  near  together.  You  are  aware 
that  it  has  been  proposed  in  England  to  open  up  a  high- 
way to  India  by  a  railroad  from  the  Mediterranean,  up 
the  Orontes,  through  Celo-Syria,  and  then  down  the  valley 
of  the  Euphrates  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  thence  by  steam- 
ship to  Bombay. 

Such  is  the  relative  position  of  Egypt,  the  Holy  Land, 
and  Babylon.  And  the  prophets  to  whom  I  have  alluded, 
whose  positions,  history,  and  writings,  are  nearly  allied  to 
Daniel,  are  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel.  Jeremiah  prophesied 
first  in  Jerusalem  and  afterward  in  Egypt,  where  he 
probably  wrote  his  Lamentations.  Ezekiel  prophesied  in 
Babylon,  by  the  River  Chebar ;  and  Daniel,  as  you  know, 
begins  his  public  life  at  the  court  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  in 
Babylon.  He  lived  also  in  the  reign  of  the  Medo-Persian 
kings,  and  probably  died  at  Susa,  i.  e.,  Persepolis,  then 
the  capital  of  Persia.  The  Pharaoh  just  named  marched 
a  great  army  out  of  Egypt  and  made  conquests  as  far  as 
the  River  Euphrates,  and  took  the  city  of  Carchemish. 
At  that  time  the  young  and  pious  king  of  Judea  was 
named  Josiah.  Imprudently  he  was  induced  to  march 
against  the  King  of  Egypt,  and  in  the  battle  that  followed 
he  was  slain,  and  his  dead  body  was  conveyed  to  Jerusa- 
lem, and  there  was  great  mourning  for  him  in  all  the 
country.  After  the  defeat  of  the  Israelites  and  the  death 
of  Josiah,  *Pharaoh  hastened  to  Jerusalem,  and  carried 


100  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

away  captive  into  Egypt  the  young  Jehoahaz,  whom  the 
people  had  made  king  in  the  place  of  Josiah.  The  King 
of  Egypt  made  Jehoiakim,  another  son  of  Josiah,  king  in 
Jerusalem,  and  he  reigned  as  a  tributary  to  Egypt.  In 
the  mean  while,  God  brings  Nebuchadnezzar  into  the 
field.  At  the  head  of  a  powerful  army  of  Assyrians,  he 
marches  against  the  Egyptians  under  Pharaoh-nechoh, 
and  defeats  him  in  a  battle  near  the  Euphrates,  and 
drives  him  back  to  Egpyt,  and  proceeds  to  lay  siege  to 
Jerusalem.  Jehoiakim  surrenders  the  holy  city,  and  be- 
comes tributary  to  Babylon  instead  of  Egypt.  And  among 
the  captives  taken  as  hostages  by  the  'King  of  Babylon 
were  Daniel  and  his  three  friends.  Nebuchadnezzar 
engages  in  other  wars,  but  hearing  of  his  father's  death, 
returns  to  his  capital  laden  with  immense  riches,  and 
builds  a  most  magnificent  palace.  But  God,  who  had 
determined  to  make  this  great  king — -just  as  he  afterward 
did  with  Alexander,  Cyrus,  and  Napoleon — an  instru- 
ment in  carrying  out  His  providences  to  the  human  race, 
caused  him  to  have  a  dream,  which  filled  his  soul  with 
terror.  Such  were  the  times,  and  such  the  kings  whose 
history  it  is  necessary  to  know  in  order  to  understand  the 
writings  of  Daniel.  The  scene  of  the  history  before  us  is 
laid  in  the  far  distant  country  of  Babylon,  by  the  great 
Kiver  Euphrates,  and  about  two  thousand  five  hundred 
years  ago.  And  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. We  are  aware  of  an  alleged  chronological 
error  here,  which  it  may  be  worth  while  to  notice.  It  is 
said  in  ch.  i.,  v.  1,  that  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  King  of  Baby- 
lon, besieged  and  took  Jerusalem.  And  it  is  admitted 
that  Daniel  and  his  three  friends  were  subjected  to  a  three 


TIME  OF  THE  DREAM.  101 

years'  discipline,  and  then  presented  to  the  king,  and  all 
this  was  done  before  the  king's  dream,  which  is  said  in 
the  text  to  have  occurred  in  the  second  year  of  his  reign. 
The  explanation  of  the  difficulty  given  by  some  is,  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  is  called  king  in  ch.  i.,  v.  1,  by  anticipa- 
tion, because  he  did  actually  become  king  before  the  his- 
tory was  written.  This  would  be  in  accordance  with 
common  Hebrew  usage.  The  solution,  however,  which  I 
greatly  prefer  is  different  from  this,  but  strictly  in  accord- 
ance with  history.  It  is  this — that  in  chap,  i.,  v.  1,  Nebu- 
chadnezzar is  called  king,  being  then  colleague  with  his 
father,  and  that  he  reigned  two  years  with  his  father ;  and 
that  the  second  year  of  verse  1  of  chap.  ii.  means  the  sec- 
ond year  of  his  reign  after  the  death  of  his  father.  The 
dream  happened,  therefore,  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign, 
and  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  Jewish  captivity. 

One  morning  the  King  of  Babylon  rose  from  his  royal 
couch  in  agitation  and  alarm.  An  indescribable  dream 
had  chilled  him  with  horror,  and  yet  he  had  forgotten  all 
its  details.  All  he  remembered  was  its  terrible  majesty. 
It  was  unlike  any  thing  that  had  ever  troubled  his  sleep 
before.  It  had  made  a  deep  and  abiding  impression  on 
his  mind.  He  felt  quite  sure  that  it  meant  something 
more  than  an  ordinary  or  common  dream.  He  was  con- 
vinced it  imported  an  affair  between  Heaven  and  himself, 
which  he  was,  of  course,  extremely  anxious  to  have  ex- 
plained. 

And  as  to  the  sneering  Infidel  question,  How  could  a 
fm^gotten  dream  trouble  the  king  ?  it  seems  quite  a  suffi- 
cient answer  to  ask  whether  its  propounders  have  common 
sense  enough  to  dream  ?     For  every  one  must  know  from 


102  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

experience  that  the  mind  is  often  greatly  agitated  by 
visions  of  the  night,  which  vanish,  leaving  only  a  general 
impression.  It  is  easy  to  suppose  cases  where  the  agita- 
tion would  be  even  increased  by  the  very  fact  that  the 
particulars  were  no  longer  remembered,  and  the  relief 
that  might  be  hoped  for  could  not,  therefore,  be  so  readily 
obtained.  Every  one  knows  that  impressions  from  dreams 
remain  after  their  particular  details  have  escaped  recollec- 
tion. The  dimness,  indistinctness,  mysteriousness  of  the 
subject  only  increases  the  agitation. 

The  king  knew  three  things.  He  had  had  a  dream.  It 
was  lost :  but  still  it  greatly  troubled  him.  He  therefore 
called  for  his  wise  men. 

1.  The  salutation  of  the  4th  verse  is  exactly  according 
to  Oriental  style.  There  are  other  instances  of  the  same 
kind  of  address  in  the  Bible.  Xenophon,  iElian,  Quintus 
Curtius,  and  others  confirm  the  correctness  of  the  Bible 
account  of  Oriental  salutations.  You  are  not  ignorant  of 
the  style  of  Oriental  sovereigns,  particularly  on  the  Nile 
and  the  Euphrates.  They  are  called  on  the  monuments, 
"King  of  kings,"  "Lord  of  the  world,"  "Light  of  life," 
and  such  like  names.  The  meaning  of,  0  Jcing,  live  for- 
ever, in  the  sober  every-day  language  of  the  common  life 
of  us  Western  Barbarians  is,  may  your  life  be  very  long, 
and  your  reign  prosperous. 

2.  Four  classes  of  Babylonian  protessors  of  occult 
sciences,  are  named  in  the  2d  verse :  Magicians,  Astro- 
logers, Sorcerers,  and  Chaldeans.  The  first  and  last  orders 
are  supposed  to  have  been  the  Magi  so  often  referred  to, 
in  whom  the  priestly  character  was  connected  with  the 
pretensions  made  to  the  interpretations  of  dreams  and 


PROFESSORS  AT  BABYLON.  103 

prodigies,  and  the  foretelling  of  things  to  come.  This  last 
order  is  recognized  in  the  Assyrian  Sculptures,  from  the 
peculiar  dress  of  the  functionary,  and  from  the  distinctive 
offices  in  which  he  is  seen  to  be  engaged.  In  Babylon, 
as  also  in  other  Oriental  countries,  the  priests  were  also 
diviners.  These  priestly  Magi  are  represented  as  wearing 
a  peculiar  dress,  such  as  is  also  represented  upon  the 
persons  of  gods  and  deified  persons.  Their  garb  is  com- 
posed of  jeweled  head-bands,  and  bracelets,  and  flowing 
skirts.  They  are  generally  represented  with  a  gazelle 
upon  their  left  arm,  and  a  flower  in  their  right  hand.  I 
cannot  now,  however,  even  if  I  were  able  to  do  so,  stop 
to  describe  these  several  classes  of  philosophers  and  astro- 
nomers, and  point  out  the  difference  between  them. 

It  is  more  important  and  more  difficult  to  know  who 
are  meant  by  the  Chaldeans  (v.  4,)  than  it  is  to  inquire 
after  the  rest.  Some  suppose  they  were  a  college  of 
learned  men,  where  all  arts  and  sciences  were  professed 
and  taught.  Dr.  Clarke  suggests  that  they  were  the  most 
ancient  philosophers  in  the  world,  and  that  they  dwelt  in 
the  Babylonian  Irak ;  and  as  they  preserved  themselves 
from  contact  or  mixture  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  other 
one  hundred  and  twenty  provinces  of  which  the  empire 
was  composed,  so  they  appropriated  to  themselves  ex- 
clusively the  name  of  Chaldeans.  They  spoke  to  the 
king  in  Syriac,  that  is,  in  the  language  of  Aram.  Here 
begins  the  Chaldee  part  of  the  book  of  Daniel,  which 
continues  to  the  end  of  the  7th  chapter.  The  Syriac,  then, 
differed  but  little,  if  at  all,  as  a  language,  from  the  Chal- 
dee. It  was  written,  however,  in  a  different  character. 
The  language  of  the  New  Testament  is  frequently  called 


104  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Syro-Chaldaic — that  is,  it  was  the  Hebrew- Chaldee  that 
was  used  in  Syria  after  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the 
Great.  The  idioms  and  many  of  the  words  are  Hebrew 
and  Chaldee,  but  the  characters  are  Greek. 

It  is  a  well-known  historical  fact,  that  the  kings  of  the 
East  had  in  ancient  times  a  learned  body  of  men  about 
them,  whose  duty  it  was  to  entertain  the  king  with  intel- 
lectual discussions,  and  to  explain  to  him  all  high  and 
difficult  questions.  With  such  a  corps  of  learned  men, 
who  professed  such  high  degrees  of  knowledge,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  king  thought  they  should  restore  to 
him  his  lost  dream,  if  their  pretensions  were  well  founded. 
When  summoned  into  his  presence,  they  professed  to  be 
ready  to  interpret  the  dream,  if  the  king  would  only  tell 
them  wnat  his  dream  was ;  but  to  tell  a  dream  which  the 
dreamer  had  himself  forgotten,  was  beyond  their  power. 

3.  The  punishment  threatened  was  not  singular,  but 
such  as  was  known  to  the  country  and  the  times.  Cutting 
to  pieces  was  known  to  the  Jews,  for  Samuel  "  hewed  Agag 
to  pieces."  But  to  render  the  abode  of  the  culprit  a 
memorial  of  abomination  occurs  only  in  Babylonian  and 
Persian  decrees.  We  have  the  same  punishment  in  Ezra, 
vi.,  11 ;  and  again  in  Daniel,  iii.,  29.  Xenophon  tells  us 
that  such  a  custom  existed  also  at  Athens,  for  that  there 
were  many  spots  in  that  city  that  remained  vacant,  where 
the  habitation  had  either  been  destroyed  by  fire,  or  erased 
by  a  decree  of  the  people.  "  No  sooner  was  a  citizen," 
says  De  Pauw,  "  accused  of  high  treason,  or  some  such 
crime,  than  immediately  his  house  was  demolished,  as 
a  vessel  is  broken  that  has  contained  poisonous  liquor. 
Neither  was  it  lawful  to  rebuild  there,  for  the  very  ground 


TROT  AND  JERICHO.— THE  DREAM  LOST.  105 

was  supposed  to  become  fatal  and  execrable,  from  the 
crimes  of  its  former  possessors."* 

You  may  remember  that  it  was  an  ancient  custom  to  pro- 
nounce a  curse  against  him  that  should  attempt  to  rebuild 
a  ruined  city.  It  is  believed,  says  Strabo,  that  those  who 
might  have  wished  to  rebuild  Troy  were  deterred  from 
so  doing,  partly  by  the  sufferings  they  endured  there,  and 
partly  by  the  curse  that  Agamemnon  had  pronounced 
against  him  that  should  attempt  to  rebuild  it.  The  same 
thing  is  true  of  the  attempt  to  rebuild  Jerusalem  by 
Heraclius.  And  you  know  that  Joshua  cursed  the  man 
that  should  rise  up  to  rebuild  Jericho.  The  language  of 
the  text  is  a  strong  expression,  indicating  that  their 
houses  would  be  utterly  destroyed,  or  converted  into 
ruinous  heaps,  which  should  become  receptacles  for  all 
manner  of  filth.  The  threatening,  moreover,  was  the 
more  to  be  dreaded,  as  their  houses  were  built  of  straw, 
bitumen,  and  unburned  brick,  and  as  the  rains  of  their 
winter  season  were  more  like  torrents  than  showers,  and 
when  once  their  houses  should  begin  to  give  way  and  fall 
to  pieces,  they  would  soon  crtfmble  into  a  shapeless  mass 
of  ruin.  Every  traveler  has  a  feeling  and  vivid  impres- 
sion of  the  masses  of  ruins  about  the  ancient  cities  of  the 
old  world. 

4.  "With  us  there  is  no  resource  by  which  to  recover  a 
lost  dream.  It  was  different  with  the  King  of  Babylon 
He  supposed  his  wise  men  could  tell  him  his  dream 
His  court  was  crowded  with  men  of  professed  learning 
and  science.    At  this  time  Babylon  was  as  renowned  for 

*  A  note  quoted  by  Kitto,  p.  350. 


106  LECTUEES  ON  DANIEL. 

learning  as  Egypt  had  been  in  the  days  of  the  great 
Pharaohs.  Indeed,  from  both  sacred  and  profane  history, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Babylonians  were  not  more 
devoted,  especially  to  occult  sciences,  than  the  Egyptians. 
The  Bible  and  profane  history  agree  in  stating  that  there 
were  several  classes  of  persons  who  devoted  themselves 
to  the  different  branches  of  learning  and  curious  arts. 
In  the  East,  in  ancient  as  well  as  in  modern  times,  those 
who  really  have  some  science  are  not  content  with  what 
is  really  known,  but  always  connect  themselves  with 
some  kind  or  other  of  necromancy  or  charlatanry,  just  as 
the  wise  men  of  the  Indians  of  our  own  continent  do. 
They  seem  to  think  it  necessary,  in  order  to  keep  up  their 
credit  as  wise  men,  that  they  must  at  least  profess  some 
knowledge  of  hidden  and  peculiar  sciences.  For  exam- 
ple, astronomy,  which  it  is  believed  was  first  studied  by 
the  Chaldeans,  was  with  them  intimately  connected  with 
astrology,  so  that,  in  fact,  the  two  formed  but  one  science, 
of  which  astrology  was  deemed  far  the  most  important. 
This  is  still  the  case  in  the  East.  And  English  history 
furnishes  us  with  a  trial  for  constructive  treason,  in  1477, 
in  which  the  accusation  is  stated  in  these  words  :  "  That 
the  accused  had  imagined  and  compassed  the  death  of 
the  king  and  prince  by  calculating  their  nativities,  to 
'  know  when  they  should  die ;'  and  thus,  in  order  to  carry 
their  traitorous  intention  into  effect,  worked  and  calcu- 
lated by  art,  magic,  necromancy,  and  astronomy,  the  death 
and  final  destruction  of  the  king  and  prince."* 
Bead  verses  10  to  13. 

*  Prom  the  Athenaeum  of  1832,  quoted  by  Kitto  in  hoc  loco. 


THE  KING  ENRAGED.  107 

5.  Let  us  pause  here,  and  for  a  moment  listen  to  the 
altercation  between  the  wise  men  and  their  royal  mas- 
ter. They  declare  that  his  demand  is  unjust,  unreason- 
able, and  unusual.  They  say  no  other  king  has  ever 
taxed  the  skill  of  his  diviners  to  such  an  extent  as  this. 
The  king  becomes  enraged,  and  says,  your  want  of  power 
to  tell  me  my  dream  is  a  proof  that  if  I  could  tell  you  the 
dream,  you  could  not  interpret  it.  I  strongly  suspect 
you  are  all  a  set  of  knaves,  that  pretend  to  great  wisdom, 
in  order  that  you  may  eat  of  my  meat  and  drink  of  my 
wine.  According  to  your  professed  principles  and  pre- 
tensions my  requirements  are  reasonable,  and  if  you  do 
not  tell  me  the  dream  and  the  interpretation,  you  shall 
all  be  destroyed. 

6.  Read  verses  12  to  18. 

It  is  strange  that  the  king  or  Arioch  did  not  apply  to 
the  Hebrews  at  once,  as  they  had  been  found  ten  times 
wiser  than  the  magicians  and  astrologers  of  the  kingdom. 
Perhaps  they  were  thought  to  be  too  young,  or  too  re- 
cently brought  to  court  to  be  consulted  in  such  grave 
affairs,  or  perhaps  the  court  was  prejudiced  against  them 
on  account  of  their  nation  or  religion.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  cause,  Providence  so  ordered  all  the  cir- 
cumstances as  to  make  Daniel's  discovery  of  the  dream 
more  remarkable. 

7.  The  decision  of  the  Chaldean  wise  men,  that  none 
could  restore  to  the  king  his  lost  dream  but  the  gods, 
whose  dwelling  is  not  with  flesh,  was  eminently  correct. 
Their  decision  was  right,  and  when  the  living  and  true 

%  God,  who  indeed  condescends  to  dwell  with  men,  and 
who  alone  could  reveal  the  dream  and  the  secrets  con- 


108  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

tained  in  it,  actually  made  it  known  to  Daniel,  He 
evinced  the  infinite  difference  there  was  between  Jeho- 
vah and  his  prophets,  and  the  idols  and  magicians  of 
Babylon.  Daniel's  opinion  was  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Chaldean  diviners,  namely,  that  none  but  the  gods  could 
do  what  the  king  required.  And  when  he  and  his  com- 
panions were  called  for  to  be  put  to  death  with  the  other 
wise  men  of  the  kingdom,  he  besought  time  to  seek  the  aid 
of  his  God,  confident  that  the  secret  would  be  imparted 
to  him.  The  execution  of  the  sentence  was  accordingly 
delayed.  Daniel  and  his  friends  have  recourse  to  the 
God  of  their  fathers.  They  gave  themselves  up  to  prayer, 
and  God  heard  them,  and  revealed  the  whole  matter  to 
Daniel  in  a  night-vision.  And  when  Daniel  gave  the 
dream  and  the  interpretation,  the  wise  men  of  Babylon 
were  consistent  in  saying  that  the  Spirit  of  the  holy  gods 
was  in  him. 

And  here  we  cannot  but  admire  the  Providence  of  God 
that  brought  Daniel  and  his  friends  forward  at  the  time 
and  in  the  way  that  were  most  conducive  to  their  ad- 
vancement of  the  Divine  glory. 

8.  Bead  verses  24  to  30. 

Dreams  are  not  confined  to  the  East  nor  to  ancient 
times.  Men  dream  dreams  still,  both  when  awake  and 
when  asleep.  But  there  are  no  such  dreams  now  as  this 
of  the  great  King  of  Babylon.  Nor  is  the  losing  of  a 
dream  any  thing  very  remarkable.  All  of  us  know  how 
deeply  we  have  been  absorbed  in  the  visions  of  the  night, 
and  how  they  have  vanished  as  dissolving  scenes  when 
we  awoke,  and  how  vain  have  been  all  our  efforts  to  re- 
tain the  circumstances  that  so  deeply  affected  us  in  our 


MEANING  OF  THE  KING'S  DREAM.  1Q9 

sleep ;  but  they  elude  our  grasp.  It  was  not,  then,  the 
fact  that  .Nebuchadnezzar  had  a  dream  that  calls  for  re- 
mark— nor  the  fact  that  he  lost  his  dream,  but  its  re- 
covery and  significance.  The  dream  was  intended  to 
make  known  the.  succession  of  empires  and  of  revolutions, 
which  in  their  turn  were  to  decide  the  destinies  of  nations 
and  of  the  people  of  God  in  ages  to  come.  Every  school- 
boy and  girl  knows  something  of  the  four  great  monarch- 
ies represented  in  the  king's  image — the  Babylonian,  the 
Persian,  the  Grecian,  and  the  Roman — and  can  tell  more 
or  less  of  their  founder  s,  Nebuchadnezzar,  Cyrus,  Alex 
ander,  and  Caesar 

"Arioch  went  in  to  the  king  in  haste,  to  tell  him  that 
he  had  at  length  found  a  person  who  could  make  known 
to  him  his  dream.  How  courtier-like  this  man's  manner. 
Surely  he  was  at  great  pains  to  find  an  interpreter,  and 
surely  it  is  owing  entirely  to  his  diligent  researches  that 
Daniel  is  brought  to  give  the  king  his  dream  and  its  in- 
terpretation ;  and  yet  the  fact  was,  Arioch  had  no  care 
nor  trouble  in  the  matter.  It  did  not  concern  him  that 
all  the  wise  men  in  the  kiugdom  were  to  be  torn  to 
pieces,  for  he  did  not  belong  to  that  order.  All  the  dili- 
gence he  used  was  to  find  this  innocent  youth  Daniel,  to 
put  him  to  death  for  belonging  to  the  learned  class.  "/ 
have  found"  said  he  pompously,  "a  man  of  the  captives 
of  Judah,  that  will  make  known  unto  the  king  the  inter- 
pretation." And  the  king  seeing  Daniel,  a  youth  of  some 
twenty  years,  brought  forward  to  explain  what  all  the 
wise  men  of  Chaldea  had  not  been  able  to  do,  said  to  him, 
evidently  with  astonishment  and  surprise,  "  Art  thou  able 


HO  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

to  make  known  unto  me  the  dream  which  I  have  seen, 
and  the  interpretation  thereof?" 

.  And  Daniel  said,  "  The  secret  which  the  king  hath  de- 
manded cannot  the  wise  men,  the  astrologers,  the  magi- 
cians, the  soothsayers,  show  unto  the  king ;  but  there  is  a 
God  in  heaven  that  revealeth  secrets,  and  maketh  known 
to  the  king  Nebuchadnezzar  what  shall  be  in  the  latter 
days.  Thy  dream,  and  the  visions  of  thy  head  upon  thy 
bed,  are  these :  (As  for  thee,  O  king,  thy  thoughts  came 
into  thy  mind  upon  thy  bed,  what  should  come  to  pass 
hereafter ;  and  He  that  revealeth  secrets  maketh  known 
to  thee  what  shall  come  to  pass ;  but  as  for  me,  this  secret 
is  not  revealed  to  me  for  any  wisdom  that  I  have  more 
than  any  living,  but  for  their  sakes  that  shall  make 
known  the  interpretation  to  the  king,  and  that  thou 
mightest  know  the  thoughts  of  thy  heart.") 

Daniel's  answer  is  sublime  and  beautiful.  It  was  ex- 
ceedingly appropriate.  He  agrees  with  the  wise  men  of 
the  kingdom,  that  it  was  impossible  for  them,  or  for  him 
as  a  mere  man,  to  do  what  the  king  required.  It  was  as 
if  he  had  said  to  the  king,  Your  wise  men  cannot  do  what 
you  require  of  them.  Do  not,  therefore,  put  your  con- 
fidence in  them  as  diviners ;  but  do  not  treat  them  so 
crrelly.  If  I  come  to  make  known  to  you  your  dream,  it 
is  not  .because  I  have  of  myself  more  wisdom  than  they 
have.  I  have  not  discovered  it  myself.  It  has  been 
revealed  to  me  by  the  God  of  heaven,  whom  I  serve. 
What  is  indeed  impossible  with  you  and  with  your  wise 
men,  and  with  all  men,  is  possible  with  God.  There  is  a 
God  in  heaven  that  revealeth  secrets,  and  He  it  is  that 


CONSTITUTIONAL  LIBERTY  A  BLESSING.  HI 

maketli  known  unto  the  king  the  revolutions  of  empires 
and  the  great  things  which  shall  be  in  the  latter  days. 
Mark  how  much  he  resembles  Joseph  in  his  modesty. 
Both,  when  called  before  the  great  heathen  kings,  were 
particular  to  ascribe  their  wisdom  and  ability  to  interpret 
dreams  to  the  revelations  made  to  them  by  the  God  of 
heaven  ;  and  they  are  both  careful  to  instruct  their  royal 
masters  that  their  dreams  and  the  thoughts  of  their  hearts 
were  made  known  that  they  might  give  glory  to  the  God 
of  heaven,  who  is  the  Maker  of  all  things,  and  to  whom 
all  secrets  are  known. 

A  few  inferences,  and  I  am  done. 

1.  How  poor  and  wretched  a  creature  is  a  man  left  to 
the  power  of  fierce  and  ungovernable  passions!  How 
contemptible  a  figure  does  the  great  King  of  Babylon 
make  in  demanding  what  was  impossible  !  Hot-headed 
and  furious  men  are  generally  without  reason,  and  deaf 
to  all  remonstrances.  How  blessed  are  your  privileges, 
that  you  live  under  constitutional  laws,  and  are  not  sub- 
ject to  the  arbitrary  power  of  a  tyrant !  Magna  Charta, 
Habeas  Corpus,  and  trial  by  jury  are  blessings  that  cannot 
be  too  highly  valued.  As  your  lives  and  property  are 
protected  by  law  and  courts  of  justice,  so  you,  as  good 
citizens,  are  bound  to  honor  the  magistrate,  and  uphold 
the  institutions  of  your  country.  To  fear  God  and  honor 
the  king,  that  is,  the  civil  government,  are  apostolic  in- 
junctions. 

2.  In  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  shadowed  forth  in 
prophecy,  and  presented  in  history,  it  is  of  great  import- 
ance to  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  Supreme  Being 


112  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

does  rule  over  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  world,  and  yet 
does  no  violence  to  the  free  agency  of  any  rational  creature. 
The  mightiest  planets  in  the  highest  heavens  sweep  round 
in  their  orbits  at  his  bidding,  and  so  arise  and  fall  the 
mighty  dynasties  of  our  race,  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times,  and  in  both  the  Old  and  New  World.  Not  a  few 
seem  to  think  that  God's  providence  was  concerned  with 
ancient  nations,  but  has  ceased  to  take  notice  of  modern 
nations.  This  is  nothing  but  practical  atheism.  God  is 
not  less  vigilant  and  supreme  now,  in  the  midst  of  our 
inventions  and  improvements,  than  He  was  in  the  days 
of  Jerusalem  and  Babylon.  The  historian  of  the  times  of 
Daniel  does  not  say,  "  Jehoiakim  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  King  of  Babylon ;"  but  he  does  say,  "  The  Lord  gave 
Jehoiakim  into  his  hand."  The  celebrated  and  pious 
Bogue  was  in  the  habit  of  saying,  when  he  took  up  the 
papers  in  the  time  of  Napoleon  the  Great,  to  read  what 
was  passing :  "  Let  us  see  how  God  governs  the  world." 
You  cannot  be  too  often  nor  too  earnestly  reminded  that 
God  is  supreme  in  the  modern  world,  as  he  was  in  the 
ancient.  Nor  can  you  be  too  deeply  impressed  with 
your  dependence  upon  God  for  your  social,  domestic,  and 
public  blessings.  It  is  remarkable  how  often  the  Divine 
Providence  is  mentioned  in  the  writings  of  Washington. 
You  will  find  that  in '  more  than  one  hundred  different 
places  in  his  writings  he  refers  to  the  care  of  Providence 
over  him  and  the  affairs  of  the  American  people. 

3.  In  the  history  of  nations  there  are  always  two 
classes  of  interests  and  facts  very  distinct,  and  yet  ex- 
ercising over  each  other  a  powerful  influence.     I  mean 


HOW  TO  READ  ALL  THE  BIBLE.  H3 

political  and  religious  events.  The  first  relates  to  kings, 
emperors,  rulers,  cabinets,  and  forms  of  government ;  the 
second  relates  to  the  moral  character,  religious  sentiment 
of  the  people,  and  pertains  to  the  salvation  of  their  souls 
and  the  condition  of  the  Church  of  the  living  God.  These 
interests  must  necessarily  exercise  over  each  other  a 
powerful  influence.  The  history  of  nations  and  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church  of  Christ  reflect  mutually  the  state  of 
the  other.  It  has  always  been  so.  It  will  continue  to  be 
so.  It  cannot  be  otherwise.  As  patriots,  then,  you  are 
bound  to  be  truly  pious  yourselves,  and  to  uphold  by  all 
proper  means  the  true  religion. 

4.  It  is  a  solemn  and  imperative  duty  on  all  of  you  to 
make  yourselves  acquainted  with  the  Old  Testament  as 
well  as  with  the  New  Testament.  Many  do  not  read  the 
Old  Testament  at  all,  or  if  at  all,  only  that  portion  of  it 
which  speaks  of  giants  and  of  wars.  They  seem  to  think 
that  two  or  three  orthodox  doctrines  picked  out  of  the 
Scriptures  are  all  that  is  necessary  for  them  to  know. 
This  was  not  the  view  our  pious  fathers  had  of  the  duty 
of  searching  the  Scriptures.  They  thought,  and  correctly 
too,  that  all  Scripture,  the  whole  Old  Testament,  is 
"  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doc- 
trine, for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  right- 
eousness." It  was  in  reference  to  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  that  the  apostle  thus  speaks.  And  it  was  of 
them  the  blessed  Saviour  speaks  when  He  says :  "  Search 
the  Scriptures,  for  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me." 
Nor  is  it  enough  to  read  the  Bible  occasionally  or  super- 
ficially, or  by  fits  and  starts.     It  requires  care  and  study 


114  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

to  understand  the  Scriptures.  They  must  be  read  re- 
gularly, systematically,  and  with  such  helps,  as  maps, 
dictionaries,  and  concordances,  as  are  needful  for  the  in- 
terpretation of  any  other  ancient  book.  The  Bible  must 
be  read  with  the  profoundest  reverence,  and  with  the 
docility  and  humility  of  a  little  child,  and  with  fervent 
prayer  to  the  Father  of  our  spirits  to  "illumine  what  in 
us  is  dark."  It  is  for  the  want  of  patient,  persevering, 
diligent  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  so  many  people 
are  fickle,  and  easily  carried  away  with  every  wind  of 
doctrine  that  may  chance  to  blow  on  their  path.  Eo  won- 
der that  such  persons  make  little  progress  in  the  divine 
life.  They  neglect  to  study  the  Scriptures,  in  which  are 
hidden  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  They  do 
not  grow  in  knowledge  and  grace,  because  they  do  not 
seek  nourishment  where  it  is  to  be  found.  "  My  people 
perish  for  the  lack  of  knowledge,  saith  the  Lord." 

"I  speak  it  from  experience,"  says  the  celebrated 
Erasmus,  "  that  there  is  little  benefit  to  be  derived  from 
the  Scriptures  if  they  be  read  cursorily  or  carelessly ;  but 
if  a  man  exercise  himself  therein  constantly  and  con- 
scientiously, he  will  find  such  efficacy  in  them  as  is  not 
•to  be  found  in  any  other  book  whatsoever." 

Finally,  here  you  are  taught  where  to  go  in  all  cases  of 
difficulty.  How  did  Daniel  obtain  the  knowledge  of  the 
lost  dream  ?  By  asking  for  it.  He  prayed  to  God.  He 
sought  help  in  the  right  direction.  We  do  not,  indeed, 
expect  miracles  now,  yet  we  do  expect  answer  to  prayer. 
You  may  be  far  from  home.  You  may  be  in  distress 
in  a  foreign  land.     The   stern,  cold,  inquiring  gaze  of 


GOD  IS  A  GOOD  PORTION.  H5 

strangers  may  be  your  only  welcome  in  the  populous  city. 
But  there  is  one  ear  always  open  to  your  cry — one  arm 
always  stretched  out  for  your  relief.  The  God  that  heard 
Daniel  in  Babylon,  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  will 
hear  your  prayer  on  the  banks  of  our  mightier  river. 
Make  Daniel's  God  your  friend,  and  you  will  always  have 
a  protector.    Ask,  and  you  shall  receive.     Amen. 


116  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 


LECTUKE  VL 

THE   DREAM   RECOVERED. 

On  Dan.,  ii,  31-49. 

Daniel's  Modesty. — Not  vain  or  rash. — Effect  of  his  Address  to  the  King. — Tlie 
great  Image. — Its  Meaning. — The  Dream  interpreted  an  Argument  for  the 
Book  of  Daniel. — The  fifth  Kingdom.-r-Napoleon's  Testimony  on  the  Divinity 
of  Christ. — The  four  Empires. — The  Book  authentic. — Rise  of  Cyrus. — 
Washington. — J*as  Casas'  Map. — Alleghany  Eagle. — God  supreme  Sover- 
eign in  Providence  and  in  Nature. — pie  Creator's  physical  Code. — The  Re- 
ligion of  Astronomy. — Professor  Mitchell. — The  two  Testaments. — Prophecy 
the  Inspiration  of  the  Almighty. — Newton's  Eclipses. — A  Comparison. — 
Romulus  founding  Rome. — History  important  to  young  Men. — Elements  of  a 
Nation. — Religion  essential. —  Young  Men  must  be  Politicians. — Be  some- 
thing. 

The  king's  inability  to  recollect  the  dream  that  caused 
him  so  much  anxiety  gave  occasion  to  call  for  Daniel,  and 
enabled  him  to  prove  the  vast  superiority  of  his  God  over 
the  gods  and  magicians  of  Babylon.  By  being  able  to 
restore  the  lost  dream,  he  proved  at  once  that  he  was  able 
to  give  its  true  interpretation.  By  restoring  the  dream 
and  giving  its  interpretation,  he  revealed  to  the  king  two 
mysteries  at  once — a  mystery  from  the  past  and  a  mystery 
of  the  future.  On  hearing  the  past,  the  king  must  have 
felt — "that  is  true,  it  was  just  so;  I  now  remember  it. 
Surely  this  is  from  God."  And  thus  was  he  prepared  to 
hear  concerning  the  future,  which  his  dream  was  to  reveal. 
It  was  natural,  therefore,  for  him  to  reverence  Daniel 
when  he  heard  the  interpretation  of  his  night  vision.  As 
soon  as  Daniel  was  done  speaking,  the  king  replied.     See 


KING'S  REVERENCE  FOR  DANIEL.  117 

verses  46  and  47.     It  has  been  urged,  as  an  objection  to 
the  history  before  us,  that  Daniel  is  here  represented  as 
receiving  improper  homage  from  the  king.     We  answer, 
Daniel  does  not  seem  to  have  desired  it.     He  certainly 
expresses  no  approbation  of  the  king's  conduct.     He  may, 
indeed,  have  objected  to  it,  and  the  objection  have  been 
omitted  from  the  record.     He  was  a  subject — a  slave ;  it 
was  not  for  him  to  dictate  to  his  master.     Repeatedly, 
however,  he  assured  the  king  that  all  he  could  do  was 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  power  and  wisdom  of  the  God  of 
heaven.     He  gave  God  all  the  glory.     He  never  for  a 
moment,  by  word  or  deed,  failed  to  show  his  fixed  aver- 
sion to  idolatry.     On  all  occasions,  with  singular  modesty, 
firmness,  and  fidelity,  he  avowed  that  the  God  whom  he 
served  was  the  only  real  and  true  God.     Some  suppose 
that  the  text  means  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  willing  to 
worship  Daniel,  but  that,  seeing  Daniel's  opposition  to  it, 
he  did  not  do  so.     But,  aside  from  these  conjectures,  it  is 
a  sufficient  answer  for  you  to  recollect  that  the  Hebrew, 
and  even  the  English  translation  of  it,  do  not  determine 
whether  the  king  meant  to  pay  divine  or  merely  civil 
honors  to  Daniel.     Such  prostration  and  tokens  of  respect 
were  common  before  kings  and  princes,  and  any  one 
whom  it  was  intended  to  honor.     Abraham  paid  such 
honor  to  the  children  of  Heth,  who  gave  him  a  burying- 
place  for  Sarah.     If  the  king  did  actually  fall  on  his  face 
before  Daniel,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  paid  him  homage 
in  the  sense  of  religious  worship.     Neither  do  the  sweet 
odors  indicate  the  kind  of  homage  intended ;  for  these  are 
and  were  as  common  in  the  East  as  prostration,  and  are 
in  themselves  merely  a  token  of  honor.     It  is  enough  for 


118  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

• 

our  present  purpose  to  know  that  Oriental  history,  and 
coins,  and  monuments,  and  the  well-known  customs  of 
the  East  to  this  day,  prove  that  prostration  and  the  pre- 
senting of  costly  perfumes  was  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
honor  was  shown  to  any  person  deemed  worthy  of  such 
homage. 

The  effect  of  Daniel's  interpretation  upon  the  king  was 
not  altogether  such  as  was  desired.  The  impression  was, 
at  the  time,  deep,  but  not  abiding.  The  lesson  which  he 
had  to  learn,  as  we  shall  see  in  succeeding  lectures,  had 
to  be  repeated ;  and  its  repetition  was  harder  than  when 
given  for  the  first  time.  Some  suppose  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar was  converted  when  he  fell  on  his  face  and  wor- 
shiped Daniel.  His  subsequent  conduct,  before  his  sec- 
ond chastisement,  renders  this  improbable.  If  he  ever 
was  converted,  as  I  hope  he  was,  it  must  have  been  after 
his  restoration  to  his  mind  and  kingdom,  and  shortly  be- 
fore his  death,  when  he  said,  "  The  heavens  do  rule,  and 
he  blessed  the  Most  High" 

Let  us  now  hear  the  lost  dream.     Read  verses  31-35. 

A  great  image.  Yerse  31.  It  appears  from  ancient 
coins  and  medals  that  both  cities  and  nations  were  repre- 
sented by  gigantic  figures  of  men  and  women.  The  old 
writer  Florus,  in  his  history  of  Rome,  represents  the 
Roman  empire  under  the  form  of  a  human  being,  in  its 
different  states  from  infancy  to  old  age.  The  recently- 
discovered  monuments  of  the  Nile,  and  of  Nineveh,  and 
of  Babylon,  show  that  stupendous  human  figures  were 
objects  and  emblems  familiar  to  the  ancients.  Geogra- 
phers, also,  have  used  similar  representations.  The  Ger- 
manic empire  has  been  represented  by  a  map  in  the  form 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  GREAT  IMAGE.        H9 

of  a  man,  different  parts  being  pointed  out  by  the  head, 
breast,  arms,  &c.,  according  to  their  geographical  and 
political  relation  to  the  empire  in  general.  The  various 
metals  of  which  Nebuchadnezzar's  image  was  composed 
represented  the  various  kingdoms  which  should  arise  sub- 
sequent to  the  fall  of  his  own  empire.  Their  position  in 
the  body  of  the  image  clearly  denoted  the  order  of  their 
succession.  The  different  metals  and  their  position  also 
expressed  different  degrees  of  strength,  riches,  power,  and 
durability.  Clay,  earth,  and  dust,  of  course,  mean  weak- 
ness, instability. 

The  interpretation  we  have  in  verses  36  to  45,  which 
please  read  with  me.  The  image  is  a  symbol  of  empire. 
Its  different  materials  symbolize  different  dynasties  arising 
out  of,  and  subsequent  to,  the  Babylonian.  The  extreme 
part  of  the  gigantic  image,  which  was  a  mixture  of  iron 
and  clay,  represents  a  very  heterogeneous  and  mixed  domi- 
nation. It  does  not  come  within  my  present  purpose  to 
dwell  upon  the  empires  symbolized  by  this  image.  It  is 
sufficient,  while  referring  you  to  authors  who  have  ably 
treated  this  subject,  to  say  that  the  image  doubtless  was 
designed  to  represent  four  different  governments,  and  to 
show  their  successive  risings,  and  their  comparative 
strength  and  grandeur.  It  was  the  Spirit  of  the  God  of 
heaven  that  taught  his  servant  things  which  could  only 
be  known  to  himself;  and  this  inspiration  proves  the 
truthfulness  of  the  Bible.  Daniel  must  have  been  an 
honest  and  truthful  man;  and  his  interpretation  of  the 
king's  dream,  foretelling  events  to  transpire  in  distant 
ages,  must  have  been,  as  he  said  it  was,  a  revelation  from 
God.     It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  Supreme  Being, 


120  LECTUEES  ON  DANIEL. 

who  is  infinite  purity,  and  wisdom,  and  goodness,  would 
inspire  a  knave  to  predict,  as  Daniel  did,  some  of  the 
greatest  political  events  that  have  ever  taken  place  on 
earth.  Daniel,  then,  must  have  been  a  good  man,  and  he 
must  have  received  his  knowledge  of  things  to  come  from 
God.  He  was  a  man  of  truth,  and  he  says  his  under- 
standing of  the  king's  dreams  was  given  to  him  by 
Jehovah.  The  argument  here  alluded  to  for  the  Divine 
authority  of  the  Bible  is  one  that  grows  stronger  by  the 
lapse  of  time. 

If  it  be  true  that  the  argument  from  miracles  is  weaken- 
ed by  age,  the  argument  from  prophecy,  on  the  contrary, 
gains  strength  by  every  revolution  of  time  and  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

Daniel's  prophetic  mind  was  not,  however,  limited  to 
the  rise,  extension,  glory,  and  fall  of  the  four  great 
monarchies,  which  he  saw  so  distinctly  in  the  king's  great 
image.  He  speaks  of  a  fifth  kingdom,  and  his  predic- 
tions concerning  it  have  not  only  been  true  thus  far,  but 
are  now  in  the  course  of  fulfillment.  The  phrase  last 
days,  in  the  Prophets,  signifies  the  times  of  the  Messiah. 
The  kingdoms  of  the  image  arose  and  prepared  the  way 
for  the  advent  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  the  King  and 
Head  of  this  fifth  kingdom,  set  up  by  the  God  of  heaven. 
Mountains,  you  recollect,  in  the  Bible  are  the  emblems 
of  mighty  kingdoms,  states,  and  empires.  The  stone  cut 
out  without  hands  means  Jesus  Christ  and  his  kingdom  ; 
and  being  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  signifies 
without  human  aid  or  power.  The  hand  is  a  common 
Hebrew  symbol  for  power;  and  we  find  all  these  par- 
ticulars remarkably  fulfilled.     The  kingdom  of  the  true 


FIFTH  KINGDOM  SET  UP.  121 

Messiah  is  spiritual,  in  contradistinction  to  the  other  king- 
doms foreshadowed  in  the  image,  which  were  of  the 
earth,  earthy— founded  by  blood  and  conquest.  Christ, 
you  recollect,  is  represented  in  many  Scriptures  as  a 
stone. 

And  in  the  days  of  these  Icings — that  is,  in  the  days  of 
the  Caesars,  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom.  Pales- 
tine, at  the  birth  of  Jesus,  was  a  Eoman  province.  Mes- 
siah was  born,  *and  his  kingdom  set  up  under  the  Eoman 
government.  Christ  came  as  the  messenger  of  free, 
sovereign  love.  God  gave  His  Son.  Bus  birth  was  au 
extraordinary  miracle,  and  His  kingdom,  in  its  origin,  na- 
ture, extension,  and  preservation,  is  a  miracle  of  miracles. 
Its  whole  nature  is  different  from  all  others  that  have 
ever  been  established  by  the  Nebuchadnezzars,  Caesars, 
and  Napoleons  of  the  world.  This  fact  did  not  escape 
the  quick  and  powerful  mind  of  Napoleon  himself,  and 
you  know  that  he  considered  it  the  most  remarkable  fact 
known  in  human  history,  and  regarded  it  as  an  infallible 
proof  of  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  empire  was 
founded  in  blood,  but  in  his  own.  Its  policy  and  maxims 
are  not  according  to  the  rules  of  the  courts  of  this  world. 
It  was  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of 
Jehovah  of  Hosts  tRat  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  was  estab- 
lished in  our  world.  But  let  us  briefly  consider  Daniel's 
interpretation.  Thou,  0  king,  art  a  King  of  kings  :  thou 
art  this  head  of  gold.  Verses  37,  38.  Under  Nebuchad- 
nezzar the  Chaldean  empire  rose  to  its  height,  and  em- 
braced not  only  Chaldee,  but  also  Assyria,  Arabia,  Syria, 
Egypt,  and  Lybia.  The  head  of  gold  represents  its  im- 
mense riches.     In  gold  Babylon  far  surpassed  any  other 


122  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

ancient  kingdom.  Next  after  Nebuchadnezzar's  empire 
arose  that  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  whose  union  was  de- 
noted by  the  breasts  and  arms  of  silver.  Cyrus  captured 
Babylon  B.C.  538,  when  this  Medo-Persian  empire  may 
be  said  to  have  been  founded. 

The  third  kingdom  was  the  empire  of  the  Macedonians, 
or  Brazen-coated  Greeks,  aptly  represented  by  the  belly 
and  thighs  of  brass.  This  empire  was  founded  by  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  who  put  an  end  to  the  Persian  monarchy 
by  the  defeat  and  overthrow  of  Darius  Codomanus  at 
Arbela  B.C.  331. 

The  fourth  empire  was  the  Roman,  which  comprised 
nearly  the  whole  known  world.  Its  elements  were  dis- 
cordant, and  the  empire  was,  therefore,  fitly  represented 
by  iron  and  clay,  which  would  not  cleave  one  to  another, 
even  as  iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay. 

The  Roman  empire  was  weakened  by  a  mixture  of  bar- 
barians, and  by  their  incursions  was  finally  overthrown, 
and  at  length  divided  into  ten  kingdoms,  answering  to 
the  ten  toes  of  the  great  image.  It  is  thus  the  image  is 
generally  interpreted.  Josephus,  Tacitus,  Gibbon,  Hero- 
dotus, and  Rollin  furnish  us  with  abundant  evidence  of 
the  fulfillment  of  the  predictions  of  Daniel.  As  to  the 
insinuation  of  modern  skeptics,  that  tne  book  of  Daniel  is 
a  mere  political  satire,  written  long  after  the  events  hap- 
pened of  which  it  speaks,  it  must  suffice  for  the  present 
for  me  to  say,  as  I  have  shown  in  a  previous  lecture,  that 
the  evidences  internal  and  external,  are  all  arrayed 
against  it,  and  prove,  on  the  contrary,  as  clearly  as  such 
a  subject  admits  of  proof,  the  authenticity  and  genuine- 
ness of  the  book.    "We  have  positive  proof  of  the  exist- 


%  REMARKABLE  RISE  OF  CYRUS.  123 

ence  and  general  knowledge  of  the  book  of  Daniel  before 
the  rise  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  and  Alexander  the 
Great.  And  all  the  discoveries  yet  brought  to  light  by 
M.  M.  Botta,  Layard,  Rawlinson,  and  Hincks,  as  far  as 
they  bear  on  the  subject  at  all,  corroborate  the  general 
truthfulness  of  the  commonly  received  opinions  about  the 
book  of  Daniel  and  the  four  great  empires. 

I  have  said  the  position  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
image  and  the"  different  kinds  of  metal  are  descriptive  of 
the  time  of  the  rise,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  several 
empires  spoken  of. 

A  change  in  the  metal  denoted  a  change  of  the  people 
and  language ;  and,  as  there  is  no  interval  in  the  image 
between  the  gold  and  the  silver,  so  the  empire  signified 
by  the  gold  and  silver  is  one.  It  was  begun  by  the  Chal- 
deans, and  continued  by.  the  Persians  without  interrup- 
tion. The  gold,  i.  e.,  the  Babylonian  empire  ;  the  silver, 
that  is,  the  Persian.,  are  succeeded  by  the  empire  of  brass 
— an  empire  less  rich  and  less  glorious  than  that  of  Baby- 
lon, but  more  powerful  and  terrible.  The  chronology  of 
these  empires  is  indicated  by  the  position  of  the  metals  in 
the  image.  The  order  of  time  is  the  order  of  the  parts  of 
the  body  from  the  head  downward.  Nor  is  the  geogra- 
phy of  these  empires  less  clear  and  satisfactory  than  their 
chronology.  Time  does  not  allow  me  to  point  out  this. 
I  gave  in  a  sort  of  a  triangle,  in  the  last  lecture,  a  sort 
of  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  geographical  position  of  Judea, 
Babylon,  and  Egypt.  From  that  triangle  we  have  now 
to  look  westward  for  the  rise  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
eastward  for  the  rise  of  Cyrus.  As  in  the  human  body 
the  two  arms  unite  above  the  breast,  so  in  like  manner 


124  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  Medes  and  Persians  were  united,  and  made  but  one 
empire  and  one  people.     Cyrus'  father  married  a  daughter 
of  the  King  of  the  Medes,  and  this  led  to  the  union  of  the 
two  kingdoms ;  and  the  rise  of  Cyrus  and  of  the  Medo- 
Persian  kingdom,  from  an  obscure  province,  under  tribute 
to  Babylon  in  the  time  of  Daniel,  is  certainly  very  re- 
markable.     Five  years  after  the  interpretation   of  the 
dream  by  Daniel — that  is,  600  B.C.,  in  the  mountains 
east  of  Babylon,  in  a  country  called  Elam  or  Persia — a 
child  was  born,  whose  parents  gave  him  the  name  of 
Gyrus.     His  father  and  mother  were  heathens.     They 
lived  at  least  twelve  hundred  miles  from  Jerusalem. 
There  was  no  travel  between  the  two  countries,  except  as 
armies  were  marched  and  counter-marched.     The  Jewish 
nation  was  weak  and  despised.    The  Medo-Persian  parents 
were  very  far,  therefore,  from  suspecting  that  the  name 
of  their  child  had  been  written  down  in  a  Hebrew  book 
two  hundred  and  forty  years  before.     And  yet  all  this 
was  true ;  and  not  only  the  name  but  the  deeds  of  their 
son  were  foretold  by  the  Jewish  seer,  who  wrote  his  name 
in  the  sacred  book  of  his  nation.     Now  suppose  a  book, 
relating  chiefly  to  the  religion  and  national  concerns  of 
the  Chinese,  had  been  written  two  hundred  years  before 
the  birth  of  Washington,  and  deposited  among  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Chinese  empire,  in  which  it  was  foretold  that 
a  child  should  be  born  in  the  province  of  Yirginia,  belong- 
ing to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  his  name 
should  be  called  George  Washington,  and  that  he  should 
become  a  great  general   and   statesman,  and  that  the 
colonies  should  declare  their  independence  of  the  mother 
country,   and  that  Washington,   at  the  head  of  their 


CHARTS  OF  LAS  CASAS,  125 

armies,  should  capture  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  and 
that  the  colonies  should  then  become  a  nation,  and  Wash- 
ington be  the  first  President  of  the  United  States ;  and 
suppose  copies  of  this  book  were  multiplied,  and  that  it 
had  been  translated  into  another  widely-spread  tongue, 
and  that  the  original  of  the  chief  translation  had  been  so 
sacredly  kept  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  ever  to  have 
been  materially  corrupted  or  interpolated — with  what  pro- 
found astonishment  and  reverence  would  we  look  upon  a 
copy  of  such  a  book  ?  We  need  not  wonder,  therefore, 
that  when  Cyrus  became  acquainted  with  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  and  read  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  that  he 
favored  his  nation,  and  issued  his  decree  for  their  return 
to  their  own  country. 

Another  observation  here  seems  worth  making  in  this 
place :  that  Las  Casas,  the  friend  of  Napoleon,  drew  up  a 
series  of  synoptical  charts  while  he  was  with  the  emperor 
in  St.  Helena,  in  which  he  distinguishes  both  the  empires 
and  the  subdivisions  by  different  colors.  I  have  not  these 
charts  at  hand,  but  this  is  a  correct  description  of  them. 
Now  it  is  not  probable  that  Las  Casas  thought  of  Daniel 
while  he  was  engaged  in  drawing  them ;  yet  Daniel,  two 
thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-three  years  before,  at 
the  side  of  his  friend,  the  Emperor  Nebuchadnezzar,  could 
have  drawn  them  for  him  just  as  accurately  as  he  did. 
Like  Daniel,  Las  Casas  divides  the  history  of  the  world 
into  four  parts,  and  he  employs  four  colors  to  designate 
the  empires  of  the  Babylonians,  the  Persians,  the  Greeks, 
and  the  Komans.  The  Macedonian  empire  he  divides 
into  four  kingdoms,  of  which  the  Syrian  and  the  Egyptian 
are  the  two  most  powerful ;  and  so  also  does  he  divide 


126  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  Roman  empire  into  ten  parts.  And  thus  the  friend 
of  Napoleon  and  the  friend  of  Nebuchadnezzar  have  given 
the  history  of  the  world  substantially,  and  in  many  things 
even  to  the  most  minute  particulars  in  the  same  way. 
The  one  writes  from  an  island  in  the  ocean,  about  2400 
years  after  the  events  transpired  which  he  relates,  and 
the  other  writes  from  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  600 
B.C.,  and  before  the  events  themselves  took  place.  The 
main  and  only  essential  difference  between  the  historic 
charts  of  Daniel  and  of  Las  Casas  is  that,  while  the  latter 
had  no  Messiah,  the  former  speaks  of  a  fifth  kingdom  to 
be  set  up  by  the  God  of  heaven,  which  was  to  rule  forever 
— the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  Jesus. 

We  see  the  hand  of  Providence  in  bringing  Daniel 
and  his  friends  forward  at  the  Babylonish  court  at  the 
time  when  it  was  the  most  proper  they  should  be  honor- 
ed. He  who  gave  the  dream  to  the  king  ordered  all 
the  circumstances  that  took  place,  and  gave  to  Daniel 
the  honor  of  restoring  and  interpreting  it,  and  through 
Daniel  brought  out  the  heathen  king's  acknowledgment 
that  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  was  superior  to  the  gods  of 
Babylon.  The  elevation  of  his  faithful  servants,  the  He- 
brew youths,  was  another  result  of  the  Divine  interposi- 
tion.    God  never  forsakes  those  that  trust  in  Him. 

I.  The  dream,  its  predictions,  and  their  fulfillment 

PROVE  THE  SUPREME  AND  PARTICULAR  PrOVLDENCE  OF  GOD, 
AND  THEREBY  ALSO  SHOW  THE  TRUTH  OF  THE  BlBLE.   As  the 

eagle  hovering  in  the  clouds,  above  the  summit  of  the 
Alleghanies,  discerns  from  a  distance  the  valleys  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  toward  which  he  wings  his  flight, 
with  their  tributary  streams,  forests,  and  cities,  so  does 


GOD  SOVEREIGN  IN  NATURE  AND  HISTORY.  127 

Daniel,  the  man  of  God,  in  the  sublime  revelations  which 
God  gave  him,  rise  above  time,  and  mount  up  into  the 
heights  of  faith,  and  soar  tranquilly  over  the  vast  future, 
and  discover  in  the  distance  the  kings,  the  empires,  and 
events  which  were  to  agitate  the  world  at   successive 
periods ;  and  in  one  glancing  of  his  prophetic  eye  he 
takes  in  the  whole  series  of  ages,  from  his  stand-point  in 
the  palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar  to  the  second  coming  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Now  this  prediction  of  the  future 
destinies  of  nations  could  not  be  without  revelations  from 
God,  nor  could  it  be  unless  God  be  both  sovereign  in 
providence  and  in  natuhe.     It  is  God  only  and  alone 
who  can  foretell  the  distant  changes  of  time  and  nations ; 
and  this  he  can  do  and  has  done  as  infallibly  as  he  knows 
the  revolutions  of  the  heavenly  bodies.     God  knows  as 
perfectly  and  as  certainly  what  the  commotions  of  the 
people  and  the  thousand  passions  of  kings  and  statesmen 
will  produce,  as  what  the  thousand  attractions  of  the  stars 
and  their  most  distant  courses  will  bring  about  in  im- 
mensity.    Astronomers  give  us  beforehand  the  details  of 
eclipses,  because  the  Creator  has  impressed  his  will  upon 
the  universe  as  a  code  of  physical  laws.     These  laws  are 
regular,  harmonious,  and  certain ;  just  as  much  so  as  if 
we  could  see  myriads  of  angels  executing  them  in  all 
directions  throughout  the  universe.    The  globe,  the  orrery, 
and  the  planetarium  demonstrate  the  existence,  beauty, 
harmony,  accuracy,  and  sublimity  of  these  laws.     Astro- 
nomy proves  to  us  that  the  world  had  a  beginning,  and 
that  its  beginning  was  caused  by  an  Infinite  Mind,  and 
that  it  is  still  governed  by  Supreme  Intelligence.     The 
Psalmist  well  understood  these  things  when  he  said,  "For- 


128  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

ever,  O  Lord,  thy  word  is  settled  in  heaven.  Thou  hast 
established  the  earth,  and  it  abideth."  Now  the  God 
who  governs  the  seasons  and  governs  the  stars  is  the  same 
God  that  governs  the  nations  of  the  earth.  He  rules 
mankind,  who  dwell  on  the  earth,  as  well  as  the  worlds 
which  roll  in  infinite  space.  He  stays  the  commotions  of 
the  people,  as  well  as  the  billows  of  the  sea.  He  holds  in 
his  hand  the  hearts  of  the  rulers  of  the  earth,  as  He  counts 
the  hosts  of  heaven  and  calls  them  all  by  name.  Hence 
it  is  that  Daniel,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  could  predict  the 
revolutions  of  empires,  just  as  Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  able 
to  predict,  centuries  beforehand,  the  variations  and  revolu- 
tions of  the  remotest  planets  in  the  regions  of  space,  where 
they  travel  at  the  rate  of  one  million  and  a  half  miles  per 
day.  Newton,  with  his  telescope,  and  his  pen,  and  the 
use  of  mathematics,  read  the  laws  which  the  Creator  has 
promulgated  in  the  physical  universe.  Daniel,  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  read  the  laws  which  the  Almighty  Creator 
hath  ordained  in  the  intellectual  and  sensitive  world,  and 
saw  their  results.  You  know  that  such  is  the  precision 
with  which  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  can  be  as- 
certained, than  an  astronomer  in  his  observatory  at  Baby- 
lon, 2500  years  ago,  could  have  foretold  every  eclipse  of 
the  sun  and  moon  that  has  happened  from  that  day  to 
this.  Our  countryman,*  on  the  hill  at  Cincinnati,  can 
say,  "  I  will  fix  a  telescope  opposite  that  window,  with 
two  threads  of  spider's  web  placed  across  one  another  in 
the  centre  of  its  glass,  and  if  one  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
touches  on  them  for  a  thousand  years,  I  can  tell  at  what 

*  Professor  Mitchell. 


ASTRONOMY  AND  PROPHECY.  129 

hour,  what  minute,  what  second,  any  given  world  shall 
pass  the  intersection  of  those  two  threads  at  the  end  of  a 
thousand  years,  after  having  traveled  millions  of  milliona 
of  miles  in  all  directions  of  the  universe.  I  can  even  tell 
at  what  distance  from  the  earth  that  star  will  be  at  the 
expiration  of  three  thousand  years."  Now  how  is  it  that 
astronomers  are  able  to  predict  such  things  ?  It  is  because, 
first,  they  have  minds  trained,  disciplined  to  thought, 
which  are  capable  of  perceiving  objects  which  the  Creator 
has  made,  and  the  laws  He  has  given  to  them;  and, 
secondly,  because  God  has. been  pleased,  by  the  putting 
forth  of  his  omnipotence  and  wisdom,  to  ordain  laws  in 
nature  which  are  permanent ;  and,  thirdly,  because  it  has 
pleased  God  to  discover  to  such  men,  by  the  permanence 
of  his  laws  in  nature,  that  he  is  a  God  of  order  and  of 
truth,  and  will  certainly  accomplish  all  that  his  hands 
begin.  And  is  not  God  as  truly  sovereign  in  the  Bible 
as  he  is  among  suns,  moons,  and  stars  ?  Are  not  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  one  volume,  and  the  writings  of 
the  prophets  and  apostles  but  another  volume  having  the 
same  author!  Nature  and  Revelation  are  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  of  the  same  Creator  and  Redeemer, 
God.  The  first  is  written  in  huge  hieroglyphs  and  sym- 
bols, while  the  second  is  written  in  human  languages. 
The  first  are  the  inscriptions  of  an  Omnipotent  finger, 
flaming  on  the  forehead  of  the  universe,  and  declaring 
the  power  and  ownership  of  the  Creator ;  the  second  is 
the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty,  uttered  to  us  in  words 
of  our  own  tongue.  And  these  two  volumes — these  two 
Testaments — are   harmonious.     And  as  the  astronomer, 

with  his  pen,  and  'paper,  and  telescope  in  his  hand,  can 

9 


X30  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

predict,  ages  before,  the  positions  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
their  motions,  changes,  eclipses,  and  revolutions,  so  the 
prophets  of  the  Bible  were  able,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to 
predict,  ages  before,  the  positions  of  kingdoms,  and  the 
rise,  prosperity,  and  fall  of  conquerors. 

The  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  interpreted  by  Dan- 
iel, and  as  understood  by  Josephus  and  by  most  biblical 
scholars,  agrees  with  the  best  historians  of  ancient  and 
modern  times.     Nebuchadnezzar  was  himself  the  golden 
head  of  the  image.     The  Medes  and  Persians  come  next. 
And  at  the  time  that  Daniel  wrote  out  his  interpretation 
of  the  king's  dream,  the  Persians  were  as  insignificant  a 
people  as  the  inhabitants  of  Siberia  are  now,  and  far  more 
unknown  to  the  world.     And,  to  use  the  suggestion  of 
another,  there  is  as  much  probability   now  that  some 
Cyrus  will  be  born  just  five  years  hence  in  the  mountains 
of  Siberia,  who  shall  capture  St.  Petersburg,  and  put  the 
Autocrat  of  all  the  Kussias  to  death,  as  there  was,  in  mere 
human  view,  in  the  time  of  Daniel,  that  Cyrus  should  be 
born  in  Persia,  and   conquer  Babylon.     The   Persians 
dwelt  in  their  own  mountains,  and  were  especially  un- 
known to  the  Hebrews  ;  and  yet  there  lived  at  Jerusalem, 
about  two  hundred  years  before  Daniel,  a  Hebrew  prophet, 
who  not  only  predicted  the  downfall  of  Babylon,  but 
even  told  the  name  of  its  conqueror.     Isaiah  also  foretells 
the  birth  and  conquests  of  Cyrus  about  240  years  before- 
hand.    See  44th  and  45th  chapters.     Thus,  if  there  had 
been  a  Bible-class  or  a  Sabbath-school  in  Jerusalem,  a 
child  with  the  book  of  Isaiah  in  his  hand,  two  hundred 
years  before  the  Medo-Persian  empire,  could  have  fore- 
told its  rise,  and  the  downfall  of  Babylon  by  the  hand  of 


ISAIAH'S  PROPHECY  OF  CYRUS.  131 

Cyrus,  just  as  our  astronomer  at  Cincinnati,  with  his 
telescope  and  his  mathematical  tables,  can  predict  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun  a  thousand  years  hence,  and  tell  in 
what  places  such  an  eclipse  will  be  visible.  It  is  no 
wonder,  then,  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  one  of  the  greatest 
mathematicians  and  astronomers  that  has  ever  lived,  set 
himself  to  the  study  of  prophecy,  saying,  "  I  have  long 
studied  the  stars,  and  the  glory  of  God  in  creation ;  I  will 
now  study  Daniel,  and  the  glory  of  God  in  the  prophecies 
of  His  word !"  And  the  result  of  his  studies  are,  first, 
a  work  on  the  "Principles  of  Natural  Philosophy,"  in 
which  he  teaches  us  to  look  far  into  the  mysteries  of 
creation ;  and,  secondly,  we  have,  from  the  same  gigantic 
mind  and  laborious  pen,  a  work  on  the  "  Prophecies  "  of 
Daniel  and  the  book  of  the  Revelations  of  St.  John.  It 
would  be  extremely  interesting  to  trace  out,  if  we  could, 
the  internal  and  experimental  connection  in  the  mind  of 
this  illustrious  philosopher  between  his  studies  of  creation 
and  his  studies  of  prophecy,  and  see  how  the  one  in- 
fluenced and  operated  upon  the  other.  May  it  not  be 
that  he  said  to  himself,  I  have  fixed,  by  discoveries  and 
calculations,  with  certainty  the  motions,  eclipses,  and  re- 
volutions of  the  heavenly  bodies.  By  all  these  I  am 
firmly  persuaded  the  universe  is  governed  by  an  all-wise, 
supreme,  and  benevolent  Creator.  May  it  not  be  true 
that,  by  the  revelations  of  His  prophets,  He  has  recorded 
for  us  the  revolutions  of  men  on  the  earth,  as  He  has  re- 
corded by  His  laws  the  motions  of  the  planets  in  heaven? 
And  accordingly,  we  find  that  he  set  himself  to  work  to 
fix  the  chronology  of  ancient  times  by  eclipses.  As  he 
could  fix  the  time  of  the  eclipses  mentioned  by  ancient 


132  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

writers,  so  could  he  fix  the  date  of  all  contemporaneous 
events  which  they  recorded.  For  example,  when  he  read 
in  Plutarch  that  the  sun  was  vailed  in  darkness  in  Italy 
the  year  that  Eomulus  founded  the  city  of  Rome,  he 
turned  to  his  astronomy,  and  it  revealed  to  him  with  ab- 
solute certainty  that  this  celestial  phenomenon  took  place 
753  years  B.C.,  and  at  4  o'clock,  P.M.,  on  the  5th  of  July. 
This,  then,  was  the  year  in  which  the  foundation  of  Rome 
was  laid.  And  the  connection  of  this  fact  with  prophecy 
is  remarkable  in  two  ways.  First,  in  counting  back  in 
this  way,  he  found  that  the  events  spoken  of  by  Daniel 
as  to  the  rising  of  the  four  great  monarchies,  and  the 
seventy  weeks,  and  the  appearance  of  the  fifth  kingdom 
set  up  by  the  God  of  heaven,  were  all  perfectly  correct  as 
to  time.  And  a  second  point  brought  out  is  very  remark- 
able, which  I  give  in  the  words  of  Professor  Gaussen,  of 
Geneva.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  "employed  for  his  compu- 
tations a  catalogue  of  eclipses  drawn  up  by  a  very  ancient 
astronomer  named  Ptolemy.  This  man  lived  140  years 
after  Christ,  and  was  a  heathen.  He  left  in  his  writings 
an  account  of  astronomical  observations  made  at  Babylon 
for  a  long  series  of  years.  Now  what  must  have  been 
Newton's  admiration  for  Daniel  when  he  saw  that  the 
heathen  Ptolemy,  to  mark  the  years  of  his  eclipses,  had 
divided  the  ages  of  antiquity  exactly  as  the  Hebrew 
prophet  had  done  745  years  before  him  ;  that  is,  Ptolemy 
the  astronomer  looked  back,  and  saw  the  four  great 
monarchies,  just  as  Daniel  the  prophet  did  in  the  distant 
future.  One  would  suppose,  in  reading  Daniel,  that  he 
had  followed  Ptolemy,  or,  in  reading  Ptolemy,  that  he 
had  copied  Daniel.     Ptolemy,  in  his  list  of  kings,  which 


GOD  SUPREME  IN  ALL  THINGS.  133 

he  calls  a  mathematical  rule  or  canon  of  kings,  counts  the 
kings  of  Babylon  just  as  Daniel  does."*  The  coincidence 
is  certainly  very  remarkable. 

What,  then,  is  the  result  which  we  have  obtained  ?    In 
a  few  words,  it  is  this :  God  is  the  governor  of  nations, 

JUST  AS  HE  IS  OF  WORLDS.       He  IS  AS   SUPREME  LN  PROPHECY 

as  in  astronomy.  He  rules  in  the  rise  of  nations  and  in 
the  fall  of  empires,  as  He  does  in  the  revolutions  of  hea- 
venly bodies,  which  make  their  mighty  journeys  day  and 
night  in  immensity.  His  laws  are  equally  potent  and 
harmonious  in  both.  The  astronomer,  by  the  use  of  his 
intellect  and  the  appliances  of  science,  stands  in  his 
observatory  and  predicts  the  motions  and  phases  of  stars 
and  planets.  The  Hebrew  seer  stood  on  the  mount  of 
holy  vision,  and  predicted  the  developments  of  the  pre- 
determined counsels  of  the  Almighty  concerning  the  na- 
tions that  were  to  appear  upon  the  earth. 

H.  Again,  young  friends,  the  study  of  the  prophetical 
history  of  nations  is  of  vast  importance  to  young  men, 
not  merely  as  such  history  is  a  running  commentary  upon 
mankind,  and  a  volume  of  evidence  in  favor  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  also  in  this  :  namely,  that  the  history  of  na- 
tions presents  two  elements  in  themselves  perfectly  dis- 
tinct, and  yet  always  more  or  less  united,  and  always 
more  or  less  subjected  to  mutual  and  reciprocal  influences. 
I  mean  the  political  and  religious  history  of  a  country. 
The  religious  habitudes  of  a  people  do  of  necessity  deeply 
affect  their  morals,  and  their  social  and  national  char- 

*  Gaussen's  Lectures  on  Daniel,  p.  91,  92.    Presbyterian  Board  of  Pub- 
lication, 


134  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

• 

acteri  sties.  So  palpable  is  the  influence  of  religion  upon 
a  nation,  that  it  has  long  been  received  as  a  canon  of 
philosophical  history,  that  the  religion  of  a  country  being 
known,  all  the  rest  of  that  country's  history  can  be  easily 
known.  It  is  not  essential  to  mere  physical  existence 
that  we  have  comfortable  houses  to  live  in,  and  that  they 
are  adorned  with  the  products  of  industry  and  filled  with 
the  comforts  of  commerce.  We  could  live  in  tents  or  in 
adobe  houses.  But  certainly  those  who  have  once  tasted 
the  elegances  of  refined  life  will  not  desire  to  go  back  to 
semi-barbarism.  So  it  is  not  essential  for  all  pious  people 
to  be  politicians,  yet  all  the  members  of  Christ's  Church 
are  interested  in  the  political  interests  of  the  world  ;  and 
Christian  young  men  should  prepare  themselves  to  take  a 
part  in  the  civil  affairs  of  their  country.  If  the  adminis- 
tration of  our  laws  and  the  outwork  of  our  great  insti- 
tutions are  left  wholly  in  the  hands  of  ungodly  or  unprin- 
cipled men,  we  cannot  expect  God's  blessing  to  rest  upon 
us.  Noisy  demagogues  are  not  good  models  for  Christian 
young  men,  but  all  Christian  young  men  should  make 
themselves  intelligent  about  civil  affairs,  and  by  their 
votes  and  influence  promote  only  good  men  and  uphold 
only  correct  principles.  We  are  on  the  eve  of  great 
events.  You  should  prepare  yourselves  for  acting  a  high 
and  noble  part  in  the  great  history  of  the  future  ;  you 
should  cherish  a  love  of  country  and  of  your  fellow-men ; 
you  should  habitually  pray  for  your  rulers,  and  throw 
your  whole  influence  in  favor  of  the  laws  of  the  land. 

III.  Observe  how  careful  Daniel  was  to  remember  his 
friends  in  his  prosperity.    Like  Joseph,  when  exalted, 


NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S  CONFESSION.  135 

he  was  not  ashamed  of  his  poor  kin.  At  his  request  his 
three  friends  were  promoted  to  high  employments  in  the 
department  over  which  he  presided.  As  his  friends  had 
shared  his  anxieties — as  they  had  united  with  him  in 
prayer  to  God  for  wisdom,  so  it  was  becoming  for  him  in 
his  advancement  to  secure  them  places  of  trust. 

IY.  Throughout  Daniel's  history  we  see  in  him,  as  in 
Joseph,  a  disposition  to  humble  himself  and  exalt  his  God. 
Without  prevarication  or  hesitancy,  he  shows  his  abhor- 
rence of  idolatry,  and  his  deep  and  earnest  conviction 
that  the  God  whom  he  served  was  the  only  real  and  true 
God.  He  claims  nothing  for  himself.  When  the  king 
asks  him  if  he  is  able  to  make  known  the  dream  and  its 
interpretation,  he  reminds  the  king  that  there  had  been 
no  power  in  the  gods  of  his  diviners  which  had  enabled 
them  to  do  this ;  but  "  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  that  re- 
vealeth  secrets,  and  maketh  known  to  the  king  Nebuchad- 
nezzar what  shall  be  in  the  latter  days."  And  in  the 
whole  affair  we  hear  him  ascribing  every  thing  to  God : 
the  dream  itself — the  interpretation — the  existence  and 
power  of  the  Babylonian  empire — the  power  of  the  king 
himself,  and  all  the  historical  developments  which  the 
dream  prefigured — all  he  ascribes  to  the  God  whom  he 
served.  And  his  object  was  in  part  attained.  The  king's 
mind  became  so  powerfully  impressed  with  Daniel's 
arguments  and  demonstrations,  that  he  made  the  remark- 
able declaration  :  "  Of  a  truth  it  is  that  your  God  is  a 
God  of  gods,  and  a  Lord  of  kings."  The  king,  like  other 
heathen  nations  in  those  times,  supposed  that  every  coun- 
try  had   its  local   deities,  and  that  Daniel's  God  was 


136  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

certainly  one  of  the  superior  ones.  His  confession  was 
remarkable,  but  it  was  far  short  of  what  he  ought  to  have 
said :  "  There  is  only  one  living  and  true  God,  who  made 
heaven  and  earth,  and  besides  Him  there  is  no  God. 

Finally,  from  the  imperfect  and  hasty  view  presented, 
of  the  beauty  and  harmony  with  which  God,  as  sover- 
eign both  in  nature  and  providence,  governs  the  uni- 
verse, is  not  your  duty  palpable  t  Clearly  it  is  your  duty 
to  study  both  the  works  and  the  word  of  God.  You  were 
created  in  His  image  and  after  His  likeness.  You  have, 
therefore,  a  noble  heritage.  Cultivate  your  minds — 
elevate  your  affections — seek  the  knowledge  of  great  and 
glorious  subjects.  The  earth  beneath  you,  the  heavens 
above  you,  and  the  elements  around  you,  and  the  history 
and  achievements  of  your  race  in  ages  past,  and  the 
prophecies  of  its  futurity,  all  demand  your  attentive  re- 
search. Resolve  to  be  something — to  do  something  for 
your  age — to  serve  your  generation  and  your  God.  Every 
thing  in  the  universe  invites  your  intellectual  exertions. 
Suffer  not  your  mind  and  your  affections  to  go  to  waste 
by  indolence — destroy  them  not  by  excesses.  Let  them 
not  rot  in  dissipation  or  selfishness.  Cleave  to  your 
mother's  Bible.  Admire  the  spirit  of  heavenly  prophecy, 
which  laid  so  broad,  and  deep,  and  sure  a  foundation  for 
your  faith.  Be  thankful  that  the  God  of  heaven  has  set 
up  a  kingdom  that  will  endure  forever,  and  that  you  are 
all  invited  to  become  its  subjects.  While  you  are  enjoy- 
ing the  blessings  of  this  kingdom,  pray  earnestly  for  its 
advancement,  and  labor  diligently  to  bring  your  fellow- 
men  into  it.     Strive  to  walk  worthy  of  Him  who  hath 


AIM  AT  THINGS  HIGH  AND  NOBLE.  137 

called  you,  through  the  Gospel,  to  glory,'  honor,  and 
immortality.  Of  the  God  of  heaven,  Christ  is  made  unto 
us  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and  complete  re- 
demption. Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  all  things 
needful  shall  be  added  unto  you.     Amen. 


138      .  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 


LECTUKE  YII. 

THE   FIERY   FURNACE. 

On  Dan.,  iii. 

Recapitulation. — Daniel  a  close  Student  of  the  Holy  Writings  and  of  the  Ways 
of  Providence. — Sat  in  the  Gate,  Grand  Vizier. — The  Image  set  up  in  the 
Plain  of  Dura. — The  King  enforcing  Uniformity. — Propagandism  by  the 
Sword  older  than  Mohammed  or  the  Pope. — Rawlinson's  Beading  of  Assy- 
rian Inscriptions  illustrates  the  Text. — Size  of  the  Golden  Image.  —  Colossus 
of  Nero  and  of  Rhodes. — Burning  Heretics  not  original  with  the  Jesuits. — 
Truthfulness  of  DanieVs  History. — Measures  used  by  the  King  to  produce 
Uniformity,  seductive  and  minatory. — How  like  Popery. — Best  Music. — 
Eunuchs. — The  Furnace:  Savages  understand  it. — TJie  Fire  that  would  not 
burn. —  Young  Hebrews  inflexible. — Freedom  of  Conscience. — The  old  Hebrew 
Catechism  of  Jerusalem  in  Babylon. —  WHY  these  young  Men  remained 
steadfast  in  their  Faith. 

LESSONS. 

I.  Young  men  must  prepare  for  fiery  times. — The  King  not  the  Head 
of  the  Church,  nor  Government  a  Conscience-keeper  for  the  People. 

II.  Truth  is  real  power,  and  will  prevail. 

III.  True  principle  is  true  expediency. — That  only  is  right  which  is 
according  to  God's '  Will. 

You  recollect  that  the  last  Lecture  was  on  the  Dream 
recovered,  and  that  its  interpretation  proved  to  us  that 
God  is  indeed  supreme  in  Providence  as  in  Nature,  and 
that  human  history,  written  by  man's  pen,  is  nothing  but 
the  echo  of  God's  prophecy  uttered  by  His  prophets.  The 
continuous  fulfillment  of  those  ancient  prophecies  in  the 
times  that  roll  past  before  us  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs 
that  the  prophets  were  indeed  holy  men,  and  spake  in 
times  past  as  they  were  moved  thereto  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 


"RAB-MAG."— "SUBLIME  PORTE."  139 

Daniel's  whole  career  shows  that  he  was  a  man  of  singular 
sincerity,  humility,  and  piety.  He  was  an  earnest,  hard- 
working, close-thinking  man.  He  was  a  diligent  student 
of  the  Holy  Writings  of  his  nation,  and  a  close  observer 
of  the  ways  of  Providence.  In  this  chapter  his  own  nar- 
rative is  suspended,  to  tell  us  what  happened  to  his  friends 
for  their  fidelity  to  God. 

Daniel  was  promoted  to  distinguished  honors.  Great 
gifts  were  bestowed  upon  him,  and  he  was  made  Rah- 
Mag,  that  is,  chief  of  the  learned  order,  and  the  civil 
government  of  the  metropolitan  province  of  Babylon  was 
committed  to  him.  Probably  this  was  necessary  to  enable 
him — being  a  foreigner  and  of  an  adverse  religion — to 
maintain  his  authority.  He  held  a  plurality  office,  such 
as  in  Great  Britain  would  comprise  both  that  of  Lord 
Chancellor  and  Minister  of  the  Home  Department.  Dan- 
iel's successor  now  in  the  East  is  called  the  "  Grand 
Yizier"  of  Persia  or  of  Turkey. 

Daniel  sat  in  the  gate  of  the  Icing — i.  e.,  he  was  the 
confidential  adviser  of  the  king,  and  chief  officer  in  the 
palace.  "  Judgment  in  the  gate,"  "  Honored  among  the 
elders  in  the  gate,"  and  such  expressions,  occur  frequently 
in  the  Scriptures.  You  know  that  the  gate  of  a  city,  in 
ancient  times,  was  the  place  from  which  justice  was  dis- 
pensed. It  was  a  strong  place,  and  well  guarded.  You 
also  know  that  the  government  of  the  Turkish  empire  is 
frequently  referred  to  as  the  "  sublime  Porte."  Porte  is 
from  Latin— tyorta,  which  means  a  gate.  This  retention 
of  an  ancient  Oriental  custom  in  a  modern  tongue,  as  at 
Constantinople,  the  capital  of  the  Turkish  empire,  is  a 
link  connecting  the  world  that  now  is  with  the  rites  and 


140  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

customs  of  a  world  that  is  past  away.  One  of  the  most 
curious  and  suggestive  sights  a  traveler  now  meets  with 
in  the  Levant  is  the  struggling  of  the  new  Western  World 
for  an  introduction  to  the  aged  Orient.  The  Frank's  coat 
and  the  Fez  cap  are  in  conflict  on  the  soldier  of  Stamboul. 
Constantinople  itself  is  half  European  and  half  Asiatic — 
partly  new  and  partly  old  ;  and  while  Europe  is  striving 
to  enter  Asia  and  China  from  the  West,  young  America 
from  the  farthest  West  knocks  imperatively  at  their  east- 
ern gates.     It  is  the  will  of  God. 

Daniel's  honors  and  the  rewards  of  his  friends  were  of 
short  duration.  Yesterday  they  were  objects  of  royal 
homage,  and  courtly  gifts  were  bestowed  upon  them  ;  to- 
day the  same  men,  and  without  any  cause  on  their  part 
for  such  a  change  of  treatment,  are  the  objects  of  fury 
and  vengeance.  Surely  it  is  a  vain  thing  to  trust  in 
princes.     Yain  is  the  help  of  man. 

Bead  verses  1  to  7.     The  image  is  set  ujp. 

Nebuchadnezzar  was  the  Napoleon  of  his  age.  He  was 
a  man  of  vast  ideas  and  of  vast  undertakings.  His  wealth 
and  power  enabled  him  to  gratify  a  most  towering  ambi- 
tion. He  consolidated  a  vast  empire,  comprising  many 
different  nations.  These  nations  had  different  gods  and 
different  forms  of  religious  service.  Being  supreme  in 
the  State,  he  determined  to  be  supreme  in  the  Church 
also.  He  was  another  Henry  YHL,  as  to  the  religion  of 
his  subjects.  He  resolved  to  enforce  religious  conformity 
— to  make  his  god  supreme  over  the  consciences  of  his 
people,  as  he  was  himself  supreme  over  their  persons  and 
property.  To  bring  about  this  obedience  to  and  honor  of 
his  god,  he  set  up  a  vast  golden  image  of  him  in  the  plain 


RELIGIOUS  CONFORMITY.  141 

of  Dura,  and  required  that,  at  a  signal  given  by  bands  of 
music,  all  the  persons  assembled  in  the  vast  plain  at  the 
time  of  the  dedication  should  fall  down  and  worship  it. 
All  the  inhabitants  of  his  empire  could  not  assemble  at 
his  capital,  nor  fall  down  and  worship  the  image  in  the 
plain  of  Dura.  The  governors,  therefore,  of  the  different 
provinces  of  the  empire,  who  where  representatives  of  the 
different  conquered  nations  at  the  court  of  Babylon,  were 
summoned  to  assist  at  the  ceremony  of  the  dedication. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  the  nature  of  the  several 
offices  and  posts  occupied  by  the  several  distinguished 
personages  named  in  the  narrative.  The  governors  of  the 
different  provinces,  no  doubt,  answer  to  the  satraps  of  the 
ancient  Persian  empire,  and  to  the  pashaws  of  the  Turkish 
empire  of  the  present  day.  Then,  as  now,  they  were 
generally  natives  of  the  provinces  they  governed.  Their 
assistance  at  the  dedication,  as  representatives  of  their 
respective  nations,  and  cities,  and  countries,  was  proof  of 
their  subjection  politically  to  the  King  of  Babylon  and  of 
their  religious  conformity  to  the  state  religion  of  Babylon. 
Provincial  governors  are  represented  in  the  Assyrian 
sculptures  in  the  garbs  of  their  different  nations,  and  are 
easily  distinguished  by  their  bearing  the  model  of  a  city 
as  a  symbol  of  their  office.  The  books  and  drawings  of 
these  monuments  sometimes  represent  a  distinguished 
personage  bearing  two  such  models,  one  in  each  hand, 
and  these  are  supposed  to  have  been  governors  of  two 
adjacent  provinces,  or  of  one  province  containing  two  im- 
portant cities. 

Other  and  various  motives  have  been  assigned  to 
Nebuchadnezzar  for  setting  up  this  great  golden  image. 


142  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

But  it  seems  clear  that  his  object  was  to  promote  the 
worship  of  his  god,  in  whose  likeness  this  image  was 
made.  The  Assyrian  inscriptions  discovered  by  Botta 
and  Layard,  and  read  by  Major  Bawlinson  and  Hincks, 
show  that  this  people  were  very  zealous  in  promoting  the 
worship  of  their  god,  Assarac,  among  conquered  nations. 
Contrary  to  what  was  once  the  prevailing  opinion,  it  now 
appears,  from  Bawlinson's  reading  of  the  Nineveh  in- 
scriptions, that  religious  propagandism  by  the  sword  was 
known  in  the  East  long  before  Mohammed.  The  inscrip- 
tions show  conclusively  that  the  Assyrians  showed  little 
respect  to  the  religious  creeds  of  the  nations  they  con- 
quered ;  but  wherever  they  went  they  destroyed  their 
idols,  and  endeavored  to  force  upon  them  the  worship  of 
their  own* 

We  are  not  without  historical  confirmation  of  the  nar- 
rative as  to  the  existence  of  gigantic  idols  of  gold  among 
the  Babylonians.  Herodotus  writes,  that  in  his  day  there 
was  at  Babylon  an  idol  image  of  gold  twelve  cubits  high ; 
and,  what  is  still  more  remarkable,  another  authority, 
obviously  speaking  of  the  same  statue,  mentions  that 
every  stranger  was  obliged  to  worship  it  before  he  was 
allowed  to  enter  the  city.f  Diodorus  Siculus  mentions 
an  image  found  in  the  temple  of  Belus  forty  feet  high, 
which  some  think  was  the  same  as  the  golden  image  ot 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Other  images  almost  parallel  in  mag 
nitude  are  mentioned  in  history.     The  Colossus  of  Nero 

See  Kitto  on  the  Prophets  for  the  quotations  of  these  inscriptions,  p. 
91,  92, 

f  Kitto  quotes  Philostratus,  De  Vita  Apollon,  ch,  19,  for  this, 


COLOSSI  OF  RHODES  AND  OF  NERO.  143 

was  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  high.  The  Colossus  of 
Rhodes  was  seventy  cubits  high,  and  was  considered  one 
of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  According  to  classic 
story,  it  took  thirteen  years  to  construct  this  colossus; 
and  on  its  being  thrown  down  by  an  earthquake,  so  great 
was  its  weight,  it  plowed  up  the  ground,  and  buried  itself 
under  the  ground.  These  historical  facts  show  that  such 
images  were  not  unusual,  and  that  it  was  not  impossible 
to  construct  such  by  ancient  art.  The  Colossus  of  Nero 
and  of  Ehodes  were  not,  however,  of  gold ;  nor  do  we 
suppose  that  the  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was  of  solid 
gold.  It  must  have  been  either  hollow,  or  made  of  wood 
and  covered  with  gold.  It  does  not  appear  that  the 
ancients  made  any  but  small  images  of  solid  gold.  The 
proportions  of  this  image  are  out  of  order,  unless  we 
understand  the  height  to  include  the  thickness  of  the 
pedestal,  which  it  seems  to  me  we  should  do.  The  in- 
struments of  music  in  verses  5  and  7  have  Greek  names. 
This  is  thought  to  indicate  that  they  were  brought  from 
Tyre  when  Nebuchadnezzar  conquered  that  city,  and  that 
they  were  introduced  into  Tyre  by  Greeks.  Tyre  was 
renowned  for  its  instruments  of  music. 

It  is  thought  that  we  have  in  this  chapter  the  first  in- 
stance in  the  Bible  of  the  division  and  measurement  of 
time  by  hours.     We  come  now  to  the 

ACCUSATION   AND   THE   PUNISHMENT. 

Read  verses  8  to  25. 

The  penalty  for  not  worshiping  the  golden  image  was 
death,  by  being  cast  into  a  hurning  fiery  furnace.  Burn- 
ing alive  for  heresy  is  not,  therefore,  original  with  the 


144  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Jesuits.  It  was  a  very  ancient  punishment  of  the  body, 
by  father  confessors,  to  save  the  sonl.  But  have  we  any 
proof  that  such  a  mode  of  punishment  was  used  in  Baby- 
lon ?  In  the  Bible  (Jer.,  xxix.,  22)  we  are  told  that  the 
King  of  Babylon  roasted  Zedekiah  in  the  fire.  Sir  John 
Chardin  tells  us  that  it  is  not  long  since  such  a  custom 
prevailed  in  Persia,  the  great  repository  in  modern  times 
of  ancient  usages.  He  says,  "  There  is  still  a  particular 
way  of  putting  to  death  those  who  have  transgressed  in 
civil  affairs :  as  by  causing  a  dearth,  or  by  selling  above 
the  prescribed  rate  by  means  of  a  false  weight,  or  who 
have  committed  themselves  in  any  other  way.  The  cooks 
are  put  upon  a  spit,  and  roasted  before  a  slow  fire.  Dur- 
ing the  dearth  of  1688, 1  saw  ovens  heated  in  the  royal 
square  of  Ispahan  to  terrify  the  bakers,  and  to  deter  them 
from  deriving  advantage  from  the  general  distress."  The 
principle  acted  upon  was  to  punish  crime  in  hind.  Cooks 
were  to  be  cooked,  and  bakers  baked. 

Some  of  you  may  remember  that  we  found  in  a  former 
lecture,  on  the  respective  modes  in  which  capital  punish- 
ments are  recorded  in  this  book,  an  evidence  of  Daniel's 
truthfulness  as  a  historian.  While  casting  into  a  heated 
furnace  was  a  cruelty  practiced  only  by  the  Chaldeans, 
casting  into  a  den  of  wild  beasts  was  a  punishment  pecu- 
liar to  the  Medes  and  Persians ;  and  this  is  precisely  what 
Daniel  says.  Under  the  Chaldeans  his  friends  are  cast 
into  a  fiery  furnace,  while  he  was  himself  thrown  into  a 
den  of  lions  by  the  Medo-Persians. 

There  are  two  things  that  strike  us  here  as  worthy  of 
notice : 

First,  that  we  have  a  state  religion  persecuting  the 


POPERY  ANCIENT  .—EUNUCHS.  145 

people  for  their  religious  opinions,  and  threatening  them 
with  death  if  they  do  not  comply  with  its  decrees.  It 
was  not  that  their  ministers  should  be  turned  out  of  their 
manses  and  their  livings  taken  from  them ;  but  they 
themselves  were  to  be  burned  alive  if  they  did  not  obey 
the  royal  mandate.  The  second  thing  that  strikes  us  is 
the  measures  taken  to  popularize  the  king's  religion,  and 
persuade  the  people  to  embrace  it.  These  measures  were 
two-fold.  They  were  seductive  and  minatory.  They 
were  directed  to  the  sensual  tastes  and  natural  fears  of 
man.  If  the  voluptuous  swells  of  music  from  all  kinds 
of  instruments  could  not  cause  the  people  to  fall  down 
and  worship  Bel,  why  then  the  furnace  was  to  do  its 
work.  And  have  we  nothing  like  this  in  our  times? 
Does  not  the  devil  use  great  adroitness  and  large  sums 
of  gold  to  monopolize  the  best  music  ?  Where  but  in  the 
theatre  are  the  best  voices  that  nature,  God,  and  culture 
can  produce  ?  "Where  but  in  Popish  cathedrals  do  we 
find  singers  maimed  of  their  vital  organs,  that  they  may 
have  voices  to  imitate  angelic  choirs  ?  Where  do  we  find 
ceremony,  pomp,  and  music — a  gorgeous  pageantry  de- 
signed to  strike  the  senses  of  the  rude  and  ignorant? 
Where  do  we  see  processions  with  images,  before  which 
all  men  must  uncover  their  heads  and  bow  down,  and 
remain  prostrate  till  the  image  passes  ?  Where  is  the 
penalty,  confiscation,  exile,  or  death,  for  not  worshiping 
the  God  of  heaven  according  to  the  decrees  of  eccle- 
siastical states  ?  The  king  desired  these  young  men  to 
conform  to  his  decree,  but  did  not  prove  to  them  the  truth 
of  his  religion.     Mohammed   demanded  tribute  or  the 

Koran.     Papal  governments  give  no  instruction  to  the 

10 


146  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

people  further  than  to  subject  them  to  the  sway  of  the 
priesthood.  All  their  machinery,  from  beginning  to  end, 
is  to  enslave  the  people  to  blind  submission  to  the  priest- 
hood. 

"When  the  three  young  men  refused  to  worship  the 
golden  image  at  the  sounding  of  the  music,  and  gave  a 
faithful  testimony  in  favor  of  their  God,  and  avowed  their 
belief  that  He  was  able  to  deliver  them  even  from  "  the 
burning  fiery  furnace,"  the  king  was  so  enraged  that  he 
caused  the  furnace  to  be  heated  seven '  times  more  than 
it  was  wont  to  be  heated."  The  phrase,  heated  seven 
times  more,  proves  that  this  kind  of  punishment  was 
frequent,  and  that  the  furnace  was  the  usual  instrument 
for  such  executions.  Whether  seven  times  is  to  be  un- 
derstood literally  and  exactly,  or,  according  to  a  common 
usage  of  speech,  seven,  a  definite  term,  is  used  for  an 
indefinite  one,  and  means  many  times,  is  a  question  of 
no  importance.  ¥e  have  instances  in  ancient  languages 
and  in  our  day  of  the  use  of  definite  numerals  for  large 
numbers,  without  meaning  to  be  precise.  We  say  a 
hundred  times  as  great,  or  a  hundred  times  as  many, 
meaning  a  great  many  times  more.  The  literal  meaning 
is  not  to  be  urged  here.  It  signifies  intensity.  The 
means  of  giving  seven-fold  heat  to  the  furnace  were  very 
easy  in  that  country.  The  whole  soil  of  Babylon  to  this 
day,  according  to  Mr.  Kich*  and  others,  is  full  of  naphtha 
and  bitumen.  They  had  only  to  collect  the  brushwood 
of  the  forests,  and  cast  in  plenty  of  this  naphtha  and  bit- 
umen, just  as  our  steam-boat  men  do  rosin  and  bacon  into 

*  Rich's  Babylon  and  Persepolis.    London,  1839. 


FIRE  THAT  WOULD  NOT  BURN.  147 

their  furnaces,  and  the  heat — even  seven-fold,  would  soon 
be  produced.  The  infidel  objection  about  the  size  and 
shape  of  the  furnace  is  scarcely  worth  a  remark.  It  was 
not  necessarily  like  a  modern  brick-kiln,  a  solid,  inclosed 
building  with  brick  or  stone  walls,  and  with  only  one 
aperture  for  putting  in  wood,  and  vent  holes  above  for 
the  emission  of  smoke  and  flame.  The  furnace  of  Baby- 
lon was  probably  a  simple  inclosure  of  fire,  or  an  area  of 
fire,  surrounded  by  a  low  wall,  without  a  covering,  into 
which  the  victims  were  thrown,  bound  hand  and  foot. 
The  savage  Indians  of  the  northwest  could  teach  such 
skeptics  how  it  was  that  the  strong  men  who  threw  in  the 
Hebrews  were  burned  by  being  caught  in  the  flames,  and 
how  the  king  could  easily  have  seen  the  furnace,  and 
looked  into  it,  even  from  his  palace  windows. 

But  let  us  see  who  were  the  real  victims.  So  fierce  was 
the  flame,  we  are  told,  that  the  strong  men  were  destroyed 
who  were  employed  to  throw  the  young  men,  bound,  into 
the  fire.  What  an  awful  pause  and  shuddering  must 
there  have  been  as  the  spectators  strained  their  eyes  to 
see  how  the  sea  of  fire  would  roll  over  and  consume  these 
victims  of  the  king's  wrath !  But  to  the  king's  astonish- 
ment, he  sees  the  young  men  moving  safely  amid  the 
flames,  which  had  power  only  to  burn  their  bonds,  but 
could  not  hurt  a  hair  of  their  heads,  or  so  much  as  singe 
their  clothing.  Even  "  the  smell  of  fire  had  not  passed 
upon  them."  The  witticisms  of  Eichorn  and  others  at 
the  gigantic  disproportions  of  the  king's  image,  and  at  the 
fire  of  Daniel  that  would  not  burn,  fall  very  naturally,  of 
course,  into  the  hands  of  those  who  deny  all  supernat- 
uralism  in  the  Bible.    The  whole  difficulty  about  the  dis- 


148  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

proportion  of  the  image  is  removed,  as  we  have  seen,  by 
including  the  pedestal  in  the  height ;  and  the  whole  diffi- 
culty about  the  fire  that  would  not  burn  is  explained  by 
remembering  that  the  flame  did  what  infidels  do  not, 
recognized  the  presence  of  Him  that  made  it,  and  bowed 
reverently  to  the  authority  of  Him  in  whose  hands  are 
the  winds,  and  waves,  and  all  the  elements  and  powers 
of  nature.  The  flame  lost  its  power  to  consume,  simply 
because  it  was  commanded  to  do  so  by  Him  that  kindled 
it  at  the  .first. 

There  were  many  flattering  arguments  which  these 
young  men  might  have  urged  against  the  conviction  of 
their  earlier  education,  and  in  favor  of  complying  with 
the  king's  command,  which  they  did  not  urge,  nor  even 
seem  to  have  allowed  to  have  so  much  as  a  moment's  con- 
sideration. They  might  have  said — but  they  did  not  so 
say — that  it  was  their  duty  to  obey  the  king,  and  worship 
the  image,  for  this  was  the  established  religion  of  the  em- 
pire. They  chose  to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  They 
believed,  what  we  enjoy,  that  the  worship  of  God  should 
be  free  and  unfettered,  according  to  the  prescriptions  of 
that  conscience  which  governments  and  tyrants  can 
neither  bind  nor  free,  which  laughs  at  fire  and  sword, 
and  glories  only  in  subjection  to  God  as  its  Sovereign. 
God  alone  is  Loed  of  the  conscience.  These  young  men 
might  have  urged  also — but  they  did  not  do  so — that  it 
was  most  expedient  to  bow  down  and  worship  the  image. 
Mark  their  situation.  They  were  captives  in  the  hands 
of  an  absolute  Oriental  monarch,  who  could  take  off  their 
heads  at  any  minute,  and  no  one  ever  ask  why  or  where- 
fore.    They  were,  moreover,  advanced  to  places  of  power, 


OLD  CATECHISM.— DUTY  SUPREME.  149 

where  they  were  able,  perhaps,  to  do  many  kind  things 
for  their  suffering  countrymen.  The  expediency-mongers 
of  our  day  would  have  said,  "  It  is  indeed  a  distressing 
thing  to  bow  down  and  worship  the  image ;  but  we  hold 
places  of  power ;  we  have  excellent  salaries ;  we  may  lose 
the  means  of  doing  good  to  our  poor  captive  countrymen  ; 
we  will  do  so  only  once ;  and  besides,  our  parents  and 
friends  in  our  fatherland  will  never  know  it.  Had  we 
not  better  bow  down  the  body,  though  we  will  not  bow 
down  the  soul,  to  this  golden  image  ?"  But  they  did  not 
parley  thus.  They  remembered  their  old  Hebrew  Cate- 
chism, which  had  taught  them  that  God  had  said  to  them, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  any  idol  gods,  nor  worship 
them."  The  matter  touched  their  conscience.  It  lay 
between  their  souls  and  their  Creator.  They  could  not 
hesitate.  Like  Joseph,  and  like  Daniel  about  the  royal 
fare,  they  determined  to  do  what  was  right,  whether  it 
seemed  to  be  expedient  or  not.  They  could  not  do  this 
great  wickedness  and  sin  against  God.  It  is  plainly 
taught  in  God's  Holy  Word  that  right  is  always  true  ex- 
pediency. It  may  not  seem  to  be  so ;  but  it  will  always 
be  found  so  in  the  end.  Do  not,  then,  look  before  you 
nor  behind  you  for  a  rule,  nor  compare  yourselves  with 
yourselves,  but  look  to  the  law  of  God.  What  does  He 
command  ?  That  you  must  do.  Duty  alone  is  ours ;  all 
the  region  beyond  is  God's.  He  will  take  care  of  the 
issues  of  duty. 

Nor  did  these  three  Hebrew  youths  urge  that  they 
were  compelled  to  obey  the  king's  commandment  because 
they  wero  under  great  personal  obligations  to  him.  He 
had  shown  them  much  kindness,  and  heaped  honors  upon 


150  LECTURES  OX  DANIEL. 

them ;  but  their  duty  to  God  was  stronger  than  gratitude 
to  the  king.  Employers,  parents,  teachers,  and  bene- 
factors may  lay  you  under  great  personal  obligations ;  but 
you  must  follow  your  conscience  in  the  matter  of  religion. 
"  He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me  cannot 
be  my  disciple.''  If  you  would  be  saved,  you  must  take 
up  your  cross  and  follow  Jesus.  Do  all  you  can  to  gratify 
your  friends  that  is  consistent  with  your  duty  to  your  own 
soul  and  your  God,  but  do  no  more. 

Nor  did  they  urge  that  they  would  be  out  of  fashion, 
and  marked  for  their  singularity,  if  they  did  not  worship 
this  golden  image.  Singularity  assumed  for  the  sake  of 
being  singular  or  famous  is  contemptible,  and  indicates  a 
weak  mind ;  but  to  be  singular  as  a  necessary  result  of 
not  sinning  as  others  do,  is  worthy  of  a  Christian.  This 
was  the  singularity  of  Noah,  of  Moses,  and  of  Daniel  and 
his  friends.  When  duty  requires  us  to  be  singular,  then 
we  must  not  hesitate.  Do  not  mind  that  the  multitude 
are  against  you,  if  God  be  with  you.  "  If  sinners  entice 
thee,"  God  says,  "  consent  not."  "  Follow  not  the  multi- 
tude to  do  evil."  Nor  did  these  young  men  urge  the 
terrible  penalty  to  which  they  were  exposed  by  disobeying 
the  king's  commandment.  They  might  have  said,  It  is  a 
terrible  thing  to  be  cast  alive  into  a  burning  fiery  furnace. 
But  they  did  not  falter.  The  heat  of  the  furnace  was  not 
so  strong  as  their  sense  of  duty.  Is  there  any  young  man 
here  to-night,  who  is  saying  to  himself,  "  I  would  become 
a  Christian :  I  wish  to  save  my  soul ;  but  if  I  do,  I  must 
give  up  such  and  such  pleasures  ;  I  must  shut  up  my  shop 
on  Sunday,  and  quit  my  lake-rides  on  the  Lord's  day  ?" 
And  what  if  it  does  cost  you  all  these  pleasures  to  save 


NEGLECT  NOT  SALVATION.  151 

your  soul  ?  "Would  it  not  be  better  to  be  thrown  into  the 
fiery  furnace  than  to  have  both  body  and  soul  cast  into 
hell  fire  forever  ?  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain 
the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  I"  Your  privileges 
are  greater  than  those  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
nego.  You  have  heard  of  Calvary,  its  cross,  its  agony, 
its  bloody  sweat.  The  Gospel  has  unfolded  to  you  its 
grace,  glory,  and  riches.  How  then  can  you  escape  if 
you  neglect  so  great  a  salvation  ?  What  will  it  profit  a 
man  in  eternity  to  have  had  a  few  years  of  dissipation  ? 
What  will  it  profit  a  man  to  have  kept  his  store  open  on 
Sabbath,  and  have  worked  late  and  early  to  acquire 
riches,  and  then — and  then  lie  down  and  die,  a  poor, 
miserable,  unpardoned  sinner,  and  lift  up  his  eyes  in  hell  ? 
Duty,  conscience,  responsibility,  the  soul,  God  and  the 
Saviour  will  alone  stand  out  as  great,  and  blessed,  and 
eternal  realities  in  the  judgment-day. 

But  why,  think  you,  did  these  young  men  refuse  to 
obey  the  royal  decree  ?  They  could  not  obey  it,  because, 
first,  of  the  force  of  their  religious  impressions.  Secondly ', 
consistency  of  character  and  of  profession  forbade  them  to 
wrorship  idols.  They  were  Hebrews.  They  had  avowed 
Jehovah  to  be  their  God.  They  could  not  obey  the  king 
without  denying  the  God  of  their  fathers.  What  satisfac- 
tion would  it  have  been,  think  you,  to  their  pious  parents, 
who  in  their  homes  at  Jerusalem  had  taken  so  much 
pains  to  instruct  them  in  the  law  and  in  the  wTorship  of 
the  true  God,  could  they  have  seen  how  firmly  their  sons 
adhered  to  the  principles  they  had  implanted  with  so 
many  fears,  and  tears,  and  prayers  ?  Eemember,  young 
men,  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  wrorld,  that  you  are 


152  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Americans,  that  you  are  Protestants,  that  you  are  Chris- 
tians. Never  allow  yourselves  to  imbibe  any  creed  or  do 
any  thing  inconsistent  with  your  birth,  education,  privi- 
leges, and  destiny. 

Thirdly.  These  Hebrew  youths  refused,  because  they 
were  sustained  by  the  hope  of  deliverance.  They  do  not 
seem  to  have  had  any  special  revelation  on  the  subject. 
Their  faith  taught  them  that  their  God  was  able  to  deliver 
them.  They  believed  in  God's  promises.  They  had  learn- 
ed to  trust  in  the  promise  of  their  parents'  God  to  Isaiah : 
"  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters  I  will  be  with 
thee ;  and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow 
thee.  When  thou  walkest  through  the  fire  thou  shalt  not 
be  burned,  neither  shall  the  flames  kindle  upon  thee." 
They  believed  that  God  would  make  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  their  good. 

Now  let  us  consider 

THEIR    DELIVERANCE. 

Read  verses  22  to  30.  And  who  was  this  that  walked 
with  them  in  the  flame. 

The  king  says :  "  Lo,  I  see  four  men  loose,  walking  in 
the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  they  have  no  hurt ;  and  the 
form  of  the  fourth  is  like  the  Son  of  God."  No  wonder 
that  he  was  astonished — that  he  was  alarmed,  and  filled 
with  remorse,  and  called  upon  the  young  men  to  come 
out  of  the  fire  ;  and  the  whole  court  crowded  around,  and 
saw  that  the  fire  of  the  seven  times  heated  furnace  had 
no  power  upon  those  servants  of  God.  It  was  natural 
that  the  king  should  conclude  that  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
these  Hebrews,  was  not  a  God  that  lie  could  trifle  with. 


SON  OF  GOD  IN  THE  FLAMES.  153 

This  conviction  forced  him  to  respect  the  religion  of  the 
Jews  in  future.  Nay,  he  decreed  "  That  every  people, 
nation,  and  language,  which  speak  any  thing  amiss 
against  the  God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego, 
shall  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  their  houses  shall  be  made  a 
dunghill ;  because  there  is  no  other  God  that  can  deliver 
after  this  sort."  Who  was  this  Son  of  God,  and  how  did 
Nebuchadnezzar  know  any  thing  of  the  appearance  of  the 
Son  of  God  ?  It  is  agreed  that  the  manifestations  of  God 
in  the  Old  Testament  were  either  types  of  the  manifes- 
tations of  God  in  human  flesh  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  that,  in  fact,  it  was  Christ  himself  who  appeared 
to  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  as  a  pledge  of  his  Incar- 
nation. But  how  did  a  heathen  king  come  to  have  any 
notion  of  the  second  person  of  the  Trinity  ?  We  answer, 
he  may  have  asked  Daniel  and  his  three  friends  many 
questions,  and  received  much  instruction  from  them  con- 
cerning their  religion,  of  which  no  record  is  made.  Dan- 
iel's superior  wisdom,  and  the  king's  acknowledgment  of 
Jehovah  as  the  revealer  of  secrets,  when  Daniel  told  him 
his  dream  and  its  interpretation,  must  have  excited  his 
curiosity,  if  nothing  more,  to  know  something  of  their  re- 
ligious doctrines  and  practices. 

But  if  Nebuchadnezzar  had  no  such  notions  of  the 
Messiah,  he  had  notions  of  angels;  and  while  it  was 
Christ  who  walked  with  the  Hebrews,  the  king  may  have 
mistaken  him  for  an  angel.  The  language  is  plural,  and 
may  be  rendered  like  a  son  of  the  gods.  This  language 
indicated  an  angel  or  celestial  intelligence.  The  proof 
that  the  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the  world  believed  in 
the  existence  and  interference  of  such  angelic  beings  is 


154:  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

manifold.  The  Assyrian  inscriptions  depict  such  intel- 
ligences with  wings.  The  king  explains  his  language 
when  he  glorified  God  for  having  sent  "his  angel"  to 
deliver  his  servants. 

The  special  lessons  from  the  fiery  furnace  of  Dura  to 
young  men  of  the  nineteenth  century  are,  I.  In  the  cour- 
teous hut  firm  refusal  of  these  Hebrew  youths,  we  have  a 
model  for  them  in  less  painful  circumstances.     The  idea 
of  heathen  temples  and  of  persecution  unto  death  for  re 
ligion's  sake  on  American  soil,  are  things  that  may  well 
trouble  us ;   but  both  will  become  realities,  unless  the 
pure  Gospel  of  Christ  prevails.     History,  the  present, 
aspect  of  the  world,  the  prophecies  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  and 
the  promises  concerning  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom  over  all  the  world,  in- 
dicate to  our  mind  times  of  great  commotion  and  peril. 
Even  now  we  almost  dread  to  receive  the  intelligence  of 
the  steam-ships  from  Europe.     That  we  are  to  have  gen- 
eral peace  for  many  years,  I  do  not  believe.     It  certainly 
is  not  probable.     That  the  next  general  war  in  Europe 
will  involve  the  hatred  of  races  and  the  cruel  asperity  of 
opposing  religions,  I  think  is  certain.     Our  reading  of 
the  future  of  the  Gospel  Church  teaches  us  to  expect 
fiery  trials.     The  sword,  the  dungeon,  and  the  stake  will 
yet  have  many,  many  victims.     Young  men,  therefore, 
who  are  coming  forward  on  the  stage  should  seek  en- 
larged, accurate  intelligence  on  religious  subjects,  and 
strive  to  know  the  truth,  that  they  may  support  correct 
views  and  high  moral  principles.     They  should  prepare 
themselves  to   endure  all   manner  of  opposition  rather 
than  sacrifice  principles.     It  may  not  be  proper  to  de- 


THE  BIBLE  THE  ONLY  RULE.  155 

mand  or  expect  of  them  in  health  and  peace,  when  there 
is  no  opposition  to  their  profession  of  Christ,  the  grace  that 
would  enable  them  to  die  for  the  Gospel.  "When  God's 
providence  calls  for  martyrs,  then  He  will  give  grace 
sufficient  for  the  crisis.  The  principle,  however,  must  be 
well  settled,  that  if  the  day  comes  when  you  are  required 
to  give  up  your  liberty  or  religious  freedom,  or  perish  in 
the  field  of  battle  or  at  the  stake,  you  would  firmly  prefer 
the  latter.  The  prior  point,  in  our  times  of  freedom  from 
persecution,  is  to  become  the  true  followers  of  Christ. 
To  repent  of  our  sins,  believe  in  Him,  and  trust  alone 
upon  his  most  perfect  righteousness,  and  take  up  our 
cross  and  follow  Him  by  discharging  all  our  duties  to- 
ward God  and  man.  Then,  when  the  crisis  comes  to  try 
our  souls,  God's  grace  will  appear  in  our  deliverance. 
There  are  not  wanting  authors  and  public  teachers  who 
argue  that  these  young  men  should  have  complied  with 
the  wishes  of  the  king,  because  the  religion  of  Bel  was 
the  established  religion  of  the  empire.  As  loyal  subjects, 
they  should  have  embraced  the  same  religion  that  was 
professed  by  their  king.  This  is  the  old  worm-eaten  effete 
doctrine,  that  the  government  or  the  king  is  the  head  of 
the  Church,  and  the  keeper  of  the  consciences  of  the  peo- 
ple. Such  is  not  the  teaching  of  the  Bible.  The  king- 
dom of  Jesus  Christ"  is  not  of  this  world ;  nor  has  He  given 
to  any  human  power  the  authority  of  enacting  laws  for 
Him.  The  Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  of  faith.  The 
mere  fact  that  a  religion,  or  a  system  of  dogmas,  meta- 
physical, political,  or  religious,  is  established  by  law 
throughout  a  country,  does  not  make  it  true  or  false. 
Mormonism  prevails  in  Utah ;  if  I  go  to  the  Salt  Lake, 


156  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

must  I  turn  Mormon  ?  Brahminism  is  the  established 
religion  of  certain  parts  of  India  and  China,  must  the 
English  and  Americans  that  go  thither  become  Hindoos  ? 
If  you  live  in  Constantinople,  must  you,  therefore,  become 
a  Mohammedan?  If  you  live  in  Paris,  is  it  right  for  you 
to  become  an  Infidel,  Papist,  or  Socialist ;  or  if  in  Ger- 
many, a  Pantheist  or  a  Protestant,  simply  because  any  one 
of  these  may  be  the  established  or  prevailing  creed  around 
you  ?  It  is  monstrous  to  suppose  that  a  man's  duty  to  his 
Creator  is  to  be  decided  by  any  such  standard  as  this. 
The  only  authority  binding  on  the  conscience  is  the 
authority  of  God.  There  is  no  real  power  but  that  of 
truth.  Wealth  is  power,  talent  is  power,  and  knowledge 
is  power  ;  but  more  mighty  than  all  is  truth.  It  is  of  God, 
and  invested  with  His  attributes  of  eternity,  omnipotence, 
and 

It  is  the  most  potent  element  of  social  or  individual 
life.  It  may  be  tossed  upon  the  billows  of  popular  fury, 
or  cast  into  the  seven-fold  heated  furnace  of  persecution, 
or  be  trampled  to  the  dust  by  the  iron  heel  of  despotism  ; 
but  it  is  absolutely  imperishable.  "  Hers  are  the  eternal 
years  of  God."  ISTor  can  those  die  who  fall  in  her  great 
cause : 

"  The  earth  may  drink  their  gore ;  their  limbs 
May  sodden  in  the  sun ;  their  heads 
Be  hung  on  castle  walls  and  city  gates, 
But  still  their  spirit  walks  abroad." 

All  the  resources  of  earth  and  hell  cannot  crush  it,  nor 
vitiate  and  poison  it.  It  has  never  failed,  and  it  never 
will.  Cleave  to  it ;  it  is  more  than  your  life — it  is  your 
salvation. 


PRINCIPLES  THE  ONLY  FOUNDATION.  157 

II.  As  Christian  young  men  you  have,  therefore,  the 
great  consolation  of  knowing  that  the  greatest  efforts  of 
the  mightiest  men  are  utterly  unavailing  against  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ.  The  most  furious  opposition  to  the  Church 
has  only  served  to  spread  its  principles,  and  to  add  new 
attractions  to  those  that  professed  them.  If  you  will  read 
history,  you  will  see  how  insignificant  are  all  the  plans 
of  the  mightiest  on  earth  against  the  Church  of  Christ. 
The  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail  against  it.  The  Hebrew 
youths  walked  amid  the  glowing  furnace  as  amid  groves 
of  orange  and  myrtle.  The  fury  of  the  king  was  disap- 
pointed, the  party  spirit  of  his  ministers  checked,  and  they 
that  kindled  the  fire  were  themselves  its  first  and  only 
victims.  All  the  power  of  earth  and  hell  cannot  burn  out 
one  single  truth  from  God's  word ;  nor  can  all  the  popes 
and  assemblies,  cabinets,  and  armies  on  the  globe  add 
one  single  doctrine  or  precept  to  the  Bible  necessary  to 
salvation.  It  is  God's  great  law  of  the  universe  that  all 
things  shall,  directly  or  indirectly,  build  up  the  truth, 
and  work  together  for  the  good  of  them  that  love  him ; 
and  the  greatest  of  all  truths  is  the  faithful  saying,  and 

WORTHY  OF  ALL  ACCEPTATION,  THAT  CHRIST  JESUS  CAME  INTO 
THE  WORLD  TO  SAVE  SINNERS,  EVEN  THE  CHLEF,  WHO  BELIEVE 
IN  HIM. 

III.  Learn  then,  and  though  this  lesson  has  been  taught 
before,  I  must  repeat  it,  that  true  expediency  is  true 
principle.  "The  path  of  duty  is  the  path  of  safety." 
"  Honesty  is  the  best  policy."  It  was  so  with  Joseph.  It 
was  so  with  Daniel  and  his  three  friends.  It  has  always 
been  so  with  the  great  and  the  good.  "Without  sincerity, 
depth  of  conviction,  and  firmness  in  one's  principle,  there 


158  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

is  no  foundation  for  greatness.  Let  nothing,  therefore, 
induce  you  to  do  a  thing  because  it  seems  expedient  un- 
less it  also  seems  to  be  right ;  and  remember  that  that 
only  is  right  which  is  according  to  the  will  of  God.  And 
remember  also,  that  the  experience  of  the  wisest  and 
happiest,  greatest  and  best  men,  teaches  us  that  what 

*  God  declares  to  be  right  is  the  highest  possible  expe- 
diency. He  that  walketh  uprightly  walketh  surely.  God- 
liness hath  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that 
which  is  to  come. 

Whatever  God  calls  you  to  do  or  to  suffer,  fear  not  to 
obey.  He  will  be  with  you  in  whatever  he  calls  you  to. 
If  he  calls  you  to  enter  the  fiery  furnace,  hesitate  not  one 
moment.  He  will  be  with  you,  and  either  sustain  you  or 
deliver  you,  or  make  it  conducive  to  your  higher  and  future 
good.  If  you  could  go  to  Paradise  itself  upon  any  other 
rule  than  what  is  right,  according  to  God's  will,  Paradise 
would  become  a  Marah— a  fountain  of  bitter  waters  only. 
The  greatest  prosperity,  without  God's  blessing,  is  nothing 
but  a  curse — a  very  furnace  seven  times  heated.  God  is 
always  able  and  is  always  willing  to  deliver  you.  And 
remember,  I  beseech  you,  young  men,  in  every  place  and 
under  all  circumstances,  that  if  you  put  your  trust  in  him 
he  will,  deliver  you  in  the  way  that  shall  be  most  for  his 

.  glory  and  best  for  you.  God  never  forgets  his  own. 
Nature  is  pliant  in  his  hand.  There  is  but  one  thing  in 
the  universe  to  be  afraid  of,  and  that  is  sin ;  and  God  is 
faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  if  we  confess  them 
to  him  and  sincerely  repent  of  them,  for  the  blood  of 

HIS  SON  JESUS  CHRIST  CLEANSETH  US  FROM  ALL  SIN 


AN  ACT  OF  FAITH.  159 


LECTUEE  Yin. 

CAVILS   AT  THE   KING'S   PROCLAMATION. 

On  Dan.,  iv.,  1-33. 

Auto  da  Fe  at  Babylon. —  Objections  to  the  King's  Proclamation.— ^Insufficiency 
of  the  Argumentum  a  Silentio. — Daniel  does  not  profess  to  write  a  complete 
History  of  Babylon  nor  of  Nebuchadnezzar. —  Webster. —  George  III. —  Omis- 
sions are  not  Contradictions. — Nothing  improbable  in  this  Proclamation. — 
Necessity  of  considering  Infidel  Objections. — Nobles  hunting  for  the  King. — 
Who  built  Babylon? — Eclipse  of  Thales. —  Wives  bearing  the  King's  Name. 
— Description  of  Babylon. — Tunnel  of  the  Euphrates. — Nebuchadnezzar's 
Greatness  and  Weakness. — Justness  and  Nature  of  his  Punishment 

LESSONS. 

I.  Beware  of  pride. 
II.  Insanity  a  great  misfortune. 

III.  Benefits  of  sanctified  affliction.—  Randolph's  Letter. 

IV.  Omniscience  of  God  should  comfort  youth  and  old  age. 

In  the  last  Lecture  we  saw  Daniel's  three  friends  in 
the  fiery  furnace  of  Babylon,  and  heard  of  their  deliver- 
ance by  one  whose  appearance  was  like  that  of  the  Son 
of  God.  We  were  carried  back  to  an  auto  da  fe  cele- 
brated on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  in  the  plain  of 
Dura,  some  two  thousand  five  hundred  years  ago.  It 
was  just  such  an  act  of  faith  as  was  witnessed  about  two 
hundred  years  ago  in  various  cities  of  Italy,  France,  and 
Germany,  and  especially  in  Spain,  and  even  in  Great 
Britain.  This  act  of  faith  was  persecution  unto  death 
for  the  sake  of  religion.  In  the  one  case  we  are  in  the 
distant  East,  about  six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  and 


160  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  head  of  the  persecution  is  Nebuchadnezzar,  aided  by 
his  courtiers,  and  the  victims  are  pious  Hebrew  captives. 
In  the  other  case  we  are  in  Europe,  about  one  thousand 
six  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Christ,  and  the  leader  of 
the  persecution  is  the  Pope  of  Rome,  aided  by  a  college 
of  Holy  Inquisitors,  who  were  priests,  and  the  victims 
were  hundreds  of  men  and  women,  burned  alive  in  the 
public  market-places  for  no  other  sin  than  that  they  would 
not  surrender  their  conscience  to  the  confessor  and  believe 
as  he  told  them.  The  Saint  Bartholomew  Massacre  and 
the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  are  not  yet  forgot- 
ten, nor  yet  washed  out  from  the  history  of  France.  All 
persecution  for  righteousness'  sake — for  religious  opinion 
— is  wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
Never  can  we  pay  the  debt  we  owe  for  civil  and  religious 
liberty  ;  never  should  we  forget  to  do  to  all  others  as  we 
would  that  they  should  do  to  us.  I  refer  to  the  auto  da 
fes  of  the  Old  World  to  quicken  our  zeal  for  liberty  of 
conscience  and  freedom  to  worship  God,  and  not  because 
I  cherish  any  unkind  feelings  toward  any  sect  or  party, 
political  or  ecclesiastical.'  But  it  is  our  duty  to  keep  our 
eyes  open  to  the  dealings  of  Providence  with  us,  and  to 
the  pages  of  history,  and  learn  hence  what  principles  to 
support. 

This  chapter  is  a  most  remarkable  one.  It  was  written 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  himself,  and  sent  as  his  royal  pro- 
clamation unto  all  people,  and  nations,  and  languages 
that  dwell  in  all  the  earth.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
decrees  on  record.  It  was  copied,  no  doubt,  by  Daniel 
from  the  state  papers  of  Babylon. 

The  fashionable  criticism  of  the  day  has  urged  several 


KING'S  MADNESS.  161 

objections  to  this  chapter  of  Daniel,  a  few  of  which  only 
seem  to  deserve  serious  consideration.  1.  It  is  said  that 
it  is  an  utter  improbability  that  Nebuchadnezzar  should 
have  published  such  a  decree  as  this,  for  it  holds  him  up 
to  the  contempt  of  his  subjects  and  to  public  disgrace.  To 
this  it  may  be  answered,  we  have  the  decree  in  the  ori- 
ginal Chaldee  in  our  Hebrew  Bible,  and  in  the  Greek 
translation  made  at  Alexandria  about  two  hundred  and 
eighty  years  before  Christ.  The  language  of  the  decree 
is  just  such  as  we  are  led  to  believe  prevailed  at  Babylon 
in  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  such  as  would  in  all 
probability  have  been  used  by  him.  The  internal  evi- 
dence for  the  truth  of  this  proclamation  is  very  strong. 
The  proof  of  its  genuineness  and  authenticity — that  is,  of 
its  being  the  actual  proclamation  of  the  King  of  Babylon, 
and  that  it  sets  forth  truth  and  not  fiction — is  as  strong 
•as,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  could  be.  Abydenus,  a 
historian,  who  probably  lived  in  the  second  century  B.C., 
relates  the  story  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  madness.  And  al- 
though his  story  differs  in  some  minor  points  from  the  ac- 
count in  Daniel,  yet  it  is  evident  that  he  framed  his  story 
out  of  the  traditions  that  reached  him  concerning  the 
king's  malady. 

The  argumentum  a  silentio  has  been  well  called  "  one 
of  the  most  treacherous  of  all  that  encumber  the  logic  of 
history."*  No  one  at  all  acquainted  with  history,  either 
ancient,  Oriental,  or  modern,  will  dare  to  set  up  such  a 
standard  as  the  test  of  historical  truth  in  contradistinction 
to  fiction.     For  example,  no  one  supposes  that  the  his- 

*  Professor  Stuart,  page  121. 
11 


162  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

torical  veracity  of  the  writer  of  the  book  of  Chronicles 
should  be  called  in  question  because  no  mention  is  made 
by  that  writer  of  the  adultery  and  murder  committed  by 
David,  nor  of  the  polygamy,  sensuality,  and  idolatry  of 
Solomon  in  his  old  age.  It  is  easy  to  raise  similar  ques- 
tions in  regard  to  the  New  Testament.  For  example, 
how  could  such  miracles  as  that  of  the  pool  of  Bethesda, 
or  the  raising  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  be  passed  over 
in  silence  by  three  of  the  Evangelists,  and  be  recorded 
only  by  John  ?  As  to  the  history  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  at 
best  we  have  nothing  but  fragments.  The  Bible  does  not 
profess  to  give  us  a  full  account  of  all  the  wars  and  works 
of  his  long  reign.  Daniel  writes  of  this  king  only  what 
related  to  himself,  and  his  countrymen,  and  prophecies. 
Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  died  before  the  close  of  his  reign, 
and  of  course  have  left  nothing  concerning  it.  The  Scrip- 
tural history  of  this  great  king  is  confined  to  the  early 
part  of  his  reign.  And  Herodotus,  who  writes  so  much 
about  Babylon,  never  mentions  Nebuchadnezzar,  nor  does 
he  speak  at  all  of  his  great  expedition  to  Egypt.  Josephus 
and  Eusebius,  who  have  brought  together  all  they  could 
find  about  Nebuchadnezzar,  mention  only  six  writings 
which  recognized  him,  and  in  no  two  of  these  is  there  a 
perfect  agreement.  There  is,  I  believe,  no  essential  con- 
tradiction between  them ;  but  while  one  relates  one  thing 
and  speaks  of  one  part  of  his  reign,  another  speaks  of  a 
different  part  of  his  actions  in  a  different  part,  of  the 
world.  The  Phenician  annals  merely  mention  his  attack 
on  Phenicia.  Another  account  speaks  of  his  besieging 
Tyre.  The  fragments  of  his  history  in  the  Bible  speak 
of  his  wars  upon  Syria,  and  of  his  connection  with  the 


OMISSIONS  NOT  CONTRADICTIONS.  163 

Jews.     It  is  unreasonable  to  expect  that  all  the  facts 
mentioned  in  one  account  of  a  great  man  must  be  men- 
tioned in  all  the  other  accounts  of  his  life.     Because  one 
of  the  compilers  and  authors  of  a  life  of  the  sage  of  Marsh- 
field,  in  giving  to  the  public  what  he  knew,  heard,  and 
saw  of  the  late  Daniel  Webster,  omits  what  another  heard 
and  saw,  and  gives  in  his  own  way  to  the  public,  it  does 
not  follow  that  either  of  them  forces  upon  the  public  a 
pure  fiction.     Suppose  a  historian,  writing  the  history  of 
George  III.  during  a  long  and  eventful  reign,  and  being 
confined  to  a  few  pages,  should  omit  to  speak  of  this 
king's  madness,  and  the  particulars  of  the  interim  re- 
gency, would  it  follow  that  his  history  was  a  fable  or  a 
fiction,  and  that  George  the  Third  was  never  afflicted 
with  such  a  malady,  and  that  there  was  no  regency  in 
his  reign  ?     Here,  then,  let  us  settle  once  for  all,  that  mere 
omissions  in  historians  are  not  contradictions,  nor  jproofs 
of  fiction.     Acknowledged  truthful  history  abounds  with 
omissions.     Manetho,  and  the  great  writers  generally,  for 
instance,  celebrate  the  victory  of  Pharaoh-nechoh,  over 
the  Israelites  at  Megiddo,  but  they  do  not  tell  us  of  his 
defeat  at  Carchemish.    The  plain  reason  is  that  Manetho 
did  not  wish  to  wither  the  laurels  of  his  hero.     What 
Persian  historian  acknowledges  the  defeat  of  Xerxes  by 
the  Greeks,  or  of  Darius  by  Alexander  in  Asia  ?     Where 
is  the  English  historian  that  acknowledges  manfully  the 
defeat  of  the  eighth  of  January,  or  the  French  writer  who 
details  the  disasters  of  Waterloo  ?     In  the  gallery  devoted 
to  all  ike  glory  of  France  at  Versailles,  there  is  no  picture 
of  Waterloo.     A  nation's  monuments,  pictures,  and  his- 
torians preserve  only  its  glory.     For  this  reason  Josephus 


104  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

says  nothing  of  the  golden  calf  or  of  the  brazen  serpent ; 
and  for  the  same  reason,  perhaps,  no  monument  on  the 
Kile  tells  us  the  particulars  of  the  Hebrew  bondage  and 
deliverance  from  Egypt.  As  to  national  disasters,  the 
rule  with  great  and  proud  nations  is  to  speak  no  evil  of 
the  dead. 

But  after  all,  is  it  indeed  so  improbable  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar would  have  been  unwilling  to  publish  such  a  de- 
cree ?  This  act  is  in  harmony  with  his  character.  If  any 
thing  could  humble  his  pride,  what  he  had  suffered  must 
have  done  so.  The  impression  on  his  mind  from  Daniel's 
character  and  the  interpretation  of  his  dreams,  and  their 
exact  fulfillment,  must  have  been  very  strong.  It  is  un- 
reasonable, therefore,  to  suppose  that  he  was  willing  to 
publish  such  a  decree  as  might  lead  his  subjects  to  do 
what  he  himself  did— -praise  the  most  High,  and  acknoio- 
ledge  his  dominion  over  all  things  ?  The  very  first  thing 
to  which  all  strong  emotions  of  penitence  lead,  is  ample 
confession  of  sin  and  reparation ;  and  is  it  not  probable  that 
even  Nebuchadnezzar  became  truly  penitent  ?  Certainly 
he  felt  deep  regret  for  his  pride  and  haughtiness,  and  a 
strong  sense  of  humiliation.  The  state  of  mind  in  which 
the  historian  presents  the  king  leaves  no  room  for  selfish 
and  honor-saving  devices.  From  the  ardor  and  intensity 
of  his  emotions,  from  the  energy  and  earnestness  of  his 
character,  and  from  the  nature  of  time  penitence,  we 
should  have  expected  Nebuchadnezzar  to  do  just  as  Dan- 
iel says  he  did  do.  And  besides,  may  not  the  providence 
of  God  have  been  exerted  to  procure  such  a  proclamation 
from  such  a  hero  and  conqueror,  who  had  advanced  his 
country  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  .dominion  and  fame? 


SCALIGER'S  CHARACTER  OF  THIS  KING.  1^5 

Would  not  such  a  proclamation  have  a  powerful  influence 
on  the  minds  of  the  Babylonians,  and  induce  them  to 
treat  the  Hebrew  exiles  among  them  with  more  respect 
and  kindness  ?  and  does  not  the  testimony  of  such  a  man, 
under  such  circumstances,  convey  to  us  in  these  ends  of 
the  earth  some  exceedingly  important  lessons  ?  It  is  not 
impossible  for  Major  Rawlinson  to  find  a  copy  of  this 
very  decree  amid  the  ruins  of  the  Euphrates,  and  identify 
the  Nebuchadnezzar  of  Daniel,  and  confirm  in  every  par- 
ticular the  Bible  narrative  of  his  reign.  This  appears  the 
less  impossible,  since  he  has  actually  made  out  from  the 
inscriptions  on  the  great  Assyrian  bull  the  truth  of  the 
Bible  account  of  Senacherib's  campaign  against  Heze- 
kiah.  The  learned  Scaliger  and  other  writers  quote  a 
fragment  of  an  ancient  historian  of  the  days  of  the  Baby- 
lonian empire,  who  gives  some  account  of  the  wonderful 
things  that  befell  this  king.  He  was  a  man  of  impulses, 
of  strong  passions,  and  of  a  haughty  spirit,  but,  when  the 
storm  of  passion  had  blown  over,  capable  of  vast  under- 
takings and  susceptible  of  generous  impulses.  It  is  not 
Nebuchadnezzar  as  the  head  of  a  great  empire,  nor  as  a 
mere  conquering  general,  who  speaks  in  this  chapter,  but 
Nebuchadnezzar  as  rebuked,  punished,  disciplined,  in- 
structed, and  made  to  feel  that  he  was  powerless  in  the 
hands  of  an  all-wise  and  overruling  Providence.  His 
proclamation  is  a  singular  testimony  of  his  susceptible 
and  variable  temper,  and  vast  conquests.  It  must  have 
been  issued  near  the  close  of  his  life  and  reign.  It  is  the 
last  account  we  have  of  him  in  the  Bible. 

2.  Again,  it  is  said,  if  Nebuchadnezzar  ran  wild  with 
the  beasts,  how  could  his  nobles  seek  after  him,  and  know 


106  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

where  to  find  him,  or  know  when  his  reason  returned,  or 
know  whether  it  returned  at  all  f  I  have  scarcely  pati- 
ence to  notice  such  pitiful  and  insignificant  criticisms, 
and  the  less  so  because  they  are  made  in  ignorance  of  the 
language  of  the  text,  though  made  by  men  who  profess 
great  learning ;  and  yet  I  suppose  it  is  best  to  consider 
them,  for  you  are  aware  that  the  tendency  of  our  times 
is  to  extract  the  life  out  of  the  Bible  by  criticisms  and 
sophistries.  It  is  too  late  in  the  age  of  the  world  to  deny 
the  Bible  its  place  as  a  history ;  therefore  the  mode  of 
attack  now  usually  made  is  to  impeach  the  correctness 
of  our  translation,  or  to  destroy  its  spirituality  and  in- 
spired authority,  or  to  tear  out  all  of  the  miracles,  the  dis- 
tinguishing works  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  all 
Divine  influence. 

The  isms  out  of  the  Church  and  the  infidelity  in  the 
Church  agree  in  this  mode  of  attack.  It  is  necessary,, 
therefore,  to  strengthen  our  defenses  by  removing  objec- 
tions to  the  sacred  text,  and  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  great 
doctrines  taught  in  the  Bible.  But  to  return  to  the  mat- 
ter in  hand.  When  it  is  said  that  his  nobles  sought  for 
him,  it  is  not  meant  that  they  hunted  for  him  as  for  a  lost 
animal.  When  Arioch,  in  chap,  ii.,  v.  13,  is  said  to  have 
sought  after  Daniel  to  kill  him — the  term  is  the  same  in 
the  original — the  meaning  is  not  that  Daniel  had  either 
run  away  or  concealed  himself.  Such  was  not  the  fact. 
The  meaning  is,  that  he  made  inquiry  for  him.  And  this 
is  all  that  Nebuchadnezzar's  nobles  did,  as  soon  as  they 
heard  of  his  restoration  to  reason.  No  doubt  his  haunts 
were  known,  and  that  some  kind  of  watch-guard s  was 
placed  over  him,  whose  business  it  was  to  look  to  any 


ROYAL  MADNESS  NOT  UNUSUAL.  167 

exigency  that  might  occur.  His  rank,  popularity,  and 
relations  would  certainly  have  secured  for  him,  even  in 
his  madness,  such  attentions ;  and  when  his  mind  was  re- 
established he  would,  of  course,  return  to  his  home  and 
his  friends.  There  was  no  need  of  hunting  him  out  of 
the  forest.  It  often  happens  that  persons  who  have  fallen 
into  a  mania  which  lasts  for  years  come  suddenly  to  the 
consciousness  of  the  state  and  circumstances  they  were  in 
when  attacked  by  the  malady ;  the  intervening  period  is 
entirely  lost. 

The  fantastic  representations  of  Nebuchadnezzar  that 
are  sometimes  made,  founded  upon  a  forced  literal  inter- 
pretation of  the  text,  do  not  deserve  consideration.  The 
text  needs  no  illustration  nor  proof  from  heathen  hydras, 
chimeras,  centaurs,  and  the  like.  Stripped  of  its  gorgeous 
Oriental  costume,  the  narrative  is  easily  explained.  The 
meaning  is  not  that  he  became  an  ox  or  an  eagle,  but 
fancied  himself  such,  and  resembled  them  in  his  habits 
and  residence.  Madmen  have  often  acted  over  scenes 
just  like  those  here  described. 

As  to  the  objection  about  the  length  of  time  that  the 
king  was  mad — till  seven  times  passed  over  him — only  a 
few  words  need  be  said.  Calvin  thinks  that  seven  is  here 
an  indefinite  number  employed  to  denote  a  considerable 
period.  The  term  is  often  so  used.  The  idiom  of  the 
book  forbids  that  we  should  regard  the  times  of  the  text 
as  astrological  periods,  as  Havernich  does. 

But  why  object  to  the  term  of  seven  years?  Surely  a 
seven  years'  madness  is  not  so  unusual  a  thing,  even 
among  crowned  heads,  as  to  throw  a  suspicion  on  the  re- 
cord.    Nor  is  this  the  only  case  in  which  men  have  ima- 


168  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

gined  themselves  to  be  beasts ;  nor,  alas !  it  is  the  only 
case  in  which  men  have  made  themselves  like  beasts. 

And  the  kingdom,  for  even  seven  years,  could  have 
been  preserved  for  him,  and  his  affairs  have  gone  on  as 
usual.  The  extent  of  his  conquests  and  the  durability  of 
his  power  show  that  he  was  a  man  of  promptness,  de- 
cision, and  discipline,  and  it  is  probable,  therefore,  that 
his  state  affairs  were  all  in  a  prosperous  condition  when 
his  madness  began. 

3.  Again,  it  is  said  that  it  is  not  true  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar built  Babylon.  It  is  of  very  little  consequence 
whether  he  did  or  not,  so  far  as  the  integrity  of  the  text 
is  concerned.  Daniel  is  not  responsible  for  the  truth  of 
what  Nebuchadnezzar  said,  but  only  for  giving  us  a  cor- 
rect report  of  what  the  king  did  say.  If  it  is  an  error,  it 
is  the  king's  fault,  and  not  Daniel's.  The  inspiration  of 
the  Bible  is  not  responsible  for  the  matter  and  manner  of 
the  speeches  of  Job's  friends,  nor  for  the  words  of  Jethro, 
nor  for  the  letter  of  Claudius  Lysias  to  Governor  Felix, 
nor  for  the  decrees  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  nor  of  the  Persian 
kings.  It  has  pleased  God  to  have  these  and  other  simi- 
lar things  spread  on  the  pages  of  Revelation  for  our  in- 
struction ;  but  the  prophets  and  apostles  are  not  fairly 
chargeable  with  the  errors  of  the  speeches  which  they 
merely  report. 

But  let  us  look  a  little  at  the  case  in  hand. 

From  the  Bible  we  gather  that  Nineveh  was  standing 
609  B.C.,  but  had  fallen  in  the  year  605  B.C.  It  was 
taken  and  destroyed  by  Cyaxares,  who  formed  an  alliance 
with  Nabopolasar,  king  of  Babylon,  about  the  year  B.C. 
606.     This  Nabopolasar  was  the  father  of  Nebuchadnez- 


FOUNDING  OF  BABYLON.  j^g 

zar.  And  from  this  time  Nineveh  ceased  to  occupy  any 
place  in  prophecy  or  in  the  history  of  the  world.  With 
the  fall  of  Nineveh  the  history  of  all  Assyria  and  Media 
is  merged  into  that  of  Babylon,  and  with  Nebuchadnezzar 
as  its  king  commences  the  grand  era  of  Babylonian  great- 
ness. After  the  capture  of  Nineveh,  Nitocris  is  named  as 
the  wife  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  queen  oft  Babylon  by 
Herodotus,  and  mother  of  Nabonnadius.  This  passage 
of  Herodotus  agrees  with  the  history  of  Daniel  as  to  facts, 
and  gives  us  in  addition  some  of  the  names  of  the  king 
and  queen,  which  are  omitted  by  him.  It  is  to  Nebuchad- 
nezzar and  to  his  queen,  a  Median  princess,  that  ancient 
authors  ascribe  most  of  the  great  works  for  which  Baby- 
lon was  renowed.*  Herodotus  says  that  the  son  of  Nito- 
cris was  called  Labynitus,  after  his  father.  He  was  also 
called  Nabonnadius.  It  was  against  him  that  Cyrus 
marched  in  538  B.C.  Nabonnadius  or  Labynitus  II.,  of 
Herodotus,  is  therefore  the  Belshazzar  of  the  Bible. 

I  have  "before  alluded  to  the  use  of  astronomy  in  ascer- 
taining the  precise  year  of  important  events.  As,  for 
example,  when  Plutarch  tells  us  that  Romulus  founded 
Rome  in  the  year  of  the  great  eclipse  in  Italy,  we  have 
only  to  reckon  back  on  the  Planetarium,  and  we  shall 
find  the  year,  month,  day,  and  hour  of  that  eclipse.  So 
we  can  come  near  to  the  year  of  the  rise  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar by  considering  the  eclipse  predicted  by  Thales. 
The  truth  of  this  prediction  is  admitted  by  modern  astron- 
omers, and  they  tell  us  that  it  took  place  610  B.C.  Now 
it  happened  that  the  great  battle  between  Cyaxares  and 

*  Yaux's  Nineveh  and  Persepolis,  p.  42. 


170  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

his  enemies,  which  immediately  preceded  the  fall  of 
Nineveh  and  the  rise  of  Babylon,  was  fought  on  the  day 
of  Thales'  eclipse.  This  eclipse  caused  the  contending 
armies  to  separate,  from  fear  of  the  vengeance  of  the 
gods,  and  a  peace  was  made,  and  one  of  the  mediators 
was  Nebuchadnezzar — Labynitus  I.,  king  of  Babylon. 

It  is  true,  then,  that  Babylon  existed  before  the  time  of 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Its  foundation  may  be  traced  back  to 
the  Tower  of  Babel  and  to  the  time  of  Nimrod.  But  it 
is  true5  also,  that  nothing  now  remains  of  the  old  city  that 
existed  before  Nebuchadnezzar.  Major  Rawlinson  tells 
us  that  not  only  Babylon,  but  the  whole  region  around  is 
full  of  ruins  having  his  great  name ;  but  no  ruins  are 
found  prior  to  his  reign.  You  recollect  it  was  a  custom 
in  Egypt  to  inscribe  the  name  and  titles  of  the  monarch 
and  of  the  builder  of  the  pyramids  on  the  stones  used  in 
their  construction ;  so  it  was  a  custom  in  Babylon,  as  it 
was  no  doubt  with  the  Assyrians,  to  stamp  the  brick 
used  in  building  their  cities  with  the  name  and  titles  of 
the  royal  founder ;  and  the  hope  is  entertained  that  the 
bricks  collected  from  different  sites  on  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates  may  enable  us  to  reconstruct  the  chronology 
of  that  country.  It  is  stated  to  be  a  fact,  that  every  ruin 
in  Babylon  proper,  in  an  area  of  about  one  hundred  miles 
iu  length,  and  thirty  or  forty  in  breadth,  has  its  bricks 
stamped  with  the  name  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Rawlinson 
states  that  he  has  examined  himself  the  bricks  in  situ 
belonging  to  about  one  hundred  different  towns,  and  that 
he  has  never  found  any  other  royal  name  than  that  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  son  of  Nabopolasar,  king  of  Babylon. 
A.  vast  number  of  these  brick  inscriptions  is  in  the  India 


DESCRIPTION  OF  BABYLOK-  171 

"  House  in  London,  showing  that  Nebuchadnezzar  built  a 
great  many  cities.  The  extent  and  number  of  the  cities 
which  he  built  would  "  almost  pass  belief  on  any  evidence 
less  conclusive  ;  and  certainly  the  necessity  of  finding  in- 
habitants for  the  numerous  towns  built  by  him  supplies  a 
new  and  interesting  motive  for  his  zeal  in  sweeping  the 
population  of  Judah,  and  doubtless  of  other  conquered 
nations,  into  this  quarter." — Kitto. 

Though  Nebuchadnezzar  was  not  the  actual  founder  of 
Babylon,  yet  he  might  be  said  to  have  been  the  builder 
of  the  city  as  it  was  in  his  day.  When  a  great  prince 
adds  new  buildings  to  those  already  existing,  he  is  said  to 
have  built  it.  So  in  the  Apocryphal  Judith,  it  is  said 
Phraortes  built  a  very  strong  city  and  called  it  Ecbatana, 
when  it  is  clear  the  meaning  is,  that  he  only  repaired, 
enlarged,  and  added  to  its  buildings  ;  and  so  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem,  built  after  the  return  from  captivity,  is 
called  Solomon's  Temple,  when  the  meaning  clearly  is, 
that  it  was  modelled,  built  on  the  site  of,  and  in  part  out 
of  the  materials  of  the  old  temple.  Nebuchadnezzar 
greatly  enlarged,  improved,  and  adorned  Babylon,  and 
rebuilt  large  portions  of  it.  Josephus  and  other  old 
writers  say  that  he  adorned  the  Temple  of  Bel  with  the 
spoils  he  took  in  war ;  that  he  embellished  all  that  re- 
mained of  the  old  city — made  the  triple  wall  of  burned 
brick  around  it — erected  a  new  and  extraordinary  palace, 
and  raised  stone  terraces  which  had  the  appearance  of 
mountains  planted  with  various  kinds  of  trees.  The  cel- 
ebrated hanging  gardens  were  of  similar  construction. 
These  terraces  and  gardens  were  erected,  it  is  said,  to 
gratify  his  Median  wife,  who  desired  to  have  in  the  dead 


172  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

level  country  of  the  Euphrates  some  scenery  resembling 
that  of  her  native  country.  The  greatest  wonder  of  Baby- 
lon was  its  temple  of  Belus  and  its  palaces.  These  edifices 
alone  are  said  to  have  occupied  a  space  of  nearly  three 
miles  square.  The  hanging  gardens  were  immense  par- 
terres formed  on  vaulted  terraces,  four  hundred  feet 
square,  rising  one  above  another  to  the  height  of  the 
wall.  These  terraces  were  built  of  stone,  and  covered 
first  with  sheets  of  lead,  then  with  a  layer  of  bitumen  and 
reeds,  and  finally  with  a  thick  coating  of  earth,  out  of 
which  rose  the  different  kinds  of  trees.  On  the  topmost 
platform  was  a  large  basin  filled  with  water,  forced  up  by 
a  powerful  hydraulic  engine  from  the  Euphrates.  But 
another  work  still,  that  must  have  given  strangers  visiting 
Babylon  a  very  high  idea  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  genius, 
was  the  passage,  constructed  of  brick  and  bitumen,  under 
the  River  Euphrates.  The  Thames  Tunnel  is  not  so  stu- 
pendous a  work  now  as  the  tunnel  of  the  Euphrates  was 
in  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  It  is  admitted,  I  believe, 
that  the  works  ascribed  to  the  fabulous  Semiramis  belong 
properly  to  this  king. 

4.  Let  us  now  consider  the  humiliation  of  the  king's 
punishment.     (See  verses  32,  33.) 

Nebuchadnezzar  was  without  doubt  a  very  remarKable 
man,  a  man  ■  of  vast  ideas  and  of  vast  undertakings,  and 
of  almost  uninterrupted  successes ;  and,  on  the  whole,  a 
much  better  man,  I  think,  than  people  generally  suppose. 
The  lapse  of  ages  is  continually  bringing  to  light  new 
evidences,  long  hidden,  indeed,  of  the  eminence,  of  the 
power,  and  magnificence  which  the  Scriptures  ascribe  to 
him.     His  misfortune  was  not  that  he  was  the  most  illus- 


THE  KING'S  PUNISHMENT.  173 

trioua  prince  of  his  age,  and  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  His  sin  was  not  that  he 
had  genius,  intellect,  and  wealth — not  that  he  was  vic- 
torious in  battle,  and  absolute  in  influence,  but  that  he 
was  too  conscious  of  his  greatness.  His  sin  lay  in  his  for- 
getfulness  of  God — in  ascribing  all  that  he  had  achieved' 
to  the  strength  of  his  own  arm  and  to  the  vastness  of  his 
own  conceptions.  When  he  looked  on  the  magnificence 
of  his  city  and  on  the  vastness  of  his  empire,  and  the 
multitudes  of  nations  he  had  conquered,  forgetting  the 
Supreme  Power  by  whom  kings  reign,  and  who  had  given 
him  all  he  had,  his  heart  was  lifted  up  in  pride,  and  the 
just  punishment  of  Heaven  fell  upon  him. 

We  may  say  that  his  pride  was  natural ;  still  it  was 
criminal.  He  was  the  successor  of  the  Assyrian  kings, 
whose  monarchy  was  ancient  and  mighty ;  and  from  the 
death  of  his  father,  Nebuchadnezzar  met  with  unparall- 
eled and  most  extraordinary  success  for  many  years. 

The  glory  of  Cyrus,  of  Alexander,  and  of  the  Cajsars 
never  equaled  the  splendor  of  the  kings  of  Babylon. 
Hence  the  head  (himself)  in  his  first  dream,  was  of  gold ; 
and  in  this  second  dream  he  is  a  tree  in  the  midst  of  the 
earth,  whose  height  reached  unto  heaven,  and  the  sight 
thereof  to  the  end  of  all  the  earth.  But  as  he  forgot  God, 
the  heavenly  watchers  cried,  Hew  down  the  tree,  and  cut 
off  his  tranches.     (See  verses  14-16.) 

The  mind  of  a  man  was  taken  from  him,  and  the  mind 
of  a  beast  entered  into  him.  He  rushed  out  into  his  great 
park  on  the  banks  of  the  river  and  mingled  with  the  beasts 
that  fed  there,  living  upon  the  herbs  of  the  field,  fleeing 
from  the  sight  of  man  and  remaining  exposed  to  all  the 


174  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

vicissitudes  of  weather,  day  and  night,  summer  and  win- 
ter. 

Meanwhile,  his  son,  Evil-merodack,  governed  as  regent, 
and  no  doubt  the  king  was  looked  after  and  protected  as 
far  as  was  necessary,  or  as  his  peculiar  circumstances 
would  allow.  If  he  had  built,  in  the  days  of  his  power, 
an  insane  asylum,  he  would  no  doubt  have  been  put  into 
it.  The  penalty  was  suited  to  the  offense.  The  sin  was 
special,  so  also  was  the  punishment.  Pride  was  the  sin ; 
degradation  was  the  punishment.  As  a  general  rule, 
punishment  is  just  the  rebound  of  sin.  Generally  speak- 
ing, sin  may  be  traced  out  in  the  light  of  the  punishment 
inflicted ;  for  God  sends  punishment  not  merely  to  reform 
the  sinner,  but  also  to  reveal  the  odiousness  of  sin.  Sin 
is  the  conductor  that  draws  down  the  lightning  of  God's 
judgment. 

The  severity  of  the  king's  suffering  was  much  greater 
than  we  can  easily  imagine  in  this  climate.  Think  of  a 
man  whose  body  is  relaxed  by  the  heat,  and  its  pores 
open,  after  being  twelve  hours  in  a  blazing  sun,  exposed 
to  a  cold  falling  dew,  so  heavy  as  to  saturate  a  tent  like 
rain,*  and  you  will  have  some  idea  of  the  king's  condi- 
tion. 

*  The  day  is  hotter  in  Western  Asia,  and  the  nights  colder,  than  with  us. 
While  traveling  in  Arabia  and  Syria,  I  often  found  the  heat  most  distressing 
at  noon,  and  yet  at  night  I  required  all  the  covering  I  had — a  capote,  quilt, 
and  blanket.  I  often  thought  of  Jacob's  words  in  Gen.,  xxxi.,  40,  "In  the 
day  the  drought  consumed  me,  and  the  frost  by  night."  After,  the  heat  of 
a  summer  day,  the  cold  and  chilling  winds  and  frosts  of  night  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  mountains  of  Asia  are  peculiarly  severe.  So  well  known 
and  striking  are  these  contrasts,  that  they  are  referred  to  by  the  Arabs  in  at 
least  two  proverbs  which  are  common  among  them.     Of  an  unhappy  man> 


PRIDE  GOETH  BEFORE  DESTRUCTION.  j.75 

Observe  also  the  suddenness  of  his  punishment.  One 
day,  as  he  walked  on  the  terraces  or  roof  of  his  palace,  in 
a  burst  of  imperial  pride  he  said,  "  Is  not  this  great  Baby- 
lon, that  I  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingd«a,  by 
the  might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  honor  of  my  majesty  ?" 
And  while  the  word  was  still  in  his  mouth,  a  voice  from 
heaven  said,  "  The  kingdom  is  departed  from  thee  V1 
Verses  31-33. 

Finally )  let  us  attend  to  some  of  the  lessons  which  this 
history  of  this  remarkable  proclamation  of  the  king  teaches 
to  young  men. 

First.  The  fall  of  pride  warms  you  of  the  sinfulness 
and  danger  of  presumption  and  vanity.  "Pride  goeth 
before  destruction."  "  Those  that  walk  in  pride  he  is 
able  to  abase."    More  on  this  point  at  another  time. 

Secondly.  It  is  a  great  misfortune  to  he  deprived  of 
reason.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  that  can  befall 
men  in  this  life.  A  great  man  is  wont  to  say  in  his  daily 
prayers,  "Lord,  deliver  me  from  sudden  death,  hydro- 
phobia, insanity,  and  tetanus."  The  fame  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar filled  the  then  known  world,  but  the  poorest  beg- 
gar in  the  streets  of  his  proud  capital,  or  the  humblest 
peasant  in  his  kingdom,  was  better  off  than  he  was  in  his 
insanity.  You  should  be  thankful,  my  young  friends,  for 
the  use  of  reason  and  speech,  and  for  the  flowings  forth 
of  liuman  sympathy.  These  are  all  God's  gifts  to  you. 
You  should  be  careful  not  to  impair  your  understanding 
by  neglecting  to  use  it,  or  by  abusing  it.  The  great 
causes  of  insanity  are  the  letting  of  our  mental  faculties 

they  say,  "  The  sun  falls  on  his  head  by  day,  and  the  dew  by  night."     "  Ho 
is  scorched  by  the  sun,  and  made  wet  by  the  dew." 


176  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

rust,  and  the  abuse  of  them  by  gluttony  and  drunkenness, 
and  by  the  indulgence  of  violent  passions  and  of  excessive 
anxieties.  You  should  do  all  you  can  to  relieve  such  as 
are  ajflicted  with  this  awful  calamity.  One  of  the  best 
remedies  against  it  is  to  be  actively  engaged  in  useful  and 
honorable  employments.  Homes  and  personal  comforts 
should  be  provided  for  the  insane,  as  well  as  for  all  in- 
valids ;  their  thoughts  should  be  drawn  away  from  them- 
selves.   It  is  a  sure  recipe  for  unhappiness  to  be  selfish. 

Thirdly.  The  King  of  Babylon  testifies  to  the  benefits 
of  sanctified  affliction.  This  is,  indeed,  a  lesson  verified 
from  our  experience,  and  from  the  general  tenor  of  all 
Bible  instruction.  ]STo  doubt  Nebuchadnezzar  found,  as 
David  did,  "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted." 
He  had  been  warned.  He  had  been  made  to  confess  the 
superiority  of  Daniel's  God  to  the  gods  of  Babylon,  when 
Daniel  restored  to  him  his  lost  dream  and  interpreted  it, 
and  had  delivered  his  three  friends  out  of  the  fiery  fur- 
nace ;  but  still  he  had  not  submitted  his  proud  heart  to 
God.  There  are  lessons  in  affliction  that  we  never  can 
learn  in  prosperity.  When  God  hides  the  sun  from  us, 
he  reveals  to  us  a  thousand  suns  by  night.  You  know" 
that  on  a  sick-bed,  or  in  the  moment  of  an  expected  ship- 
wreck, in  the  hour  of  bitter  and  sorrowful  bereavement, 
vows  and  resolutions  are  formed,  which,  if  kept,  would 
lead  to  great  zeal  in  behalf  of  religion.  Though  bitter  in 
the  experience,  yet  the  results  of  sanctified  affliction  are 
blessed.  I  have  before  me  a  letter,  but  recently  publish- 
ed, from  the  brilliant  but  eccentric  orator  of  Koanoke, 
which  bears  in  part  on  the  subject  in  hand,  and  which, 
although  many  of  you  have  doubtless  read  it,  I  will  take 


RANDOLPH'S  REMARKABLE  LETTER.  177 

the  liberty  of  presenting  to  you.  It  has  rarely  ever  been 
surpassed  for  terms  of  tenderness  and  propriety.  It  was 
written  by  Mr.  Randolph  to  his  half-brother  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  death  of  his  eldest  son.  I  earnestly  comijend 
all  young  men,  but  especially  law  students  and  honorable 
members  of  the  Legislature  and  politicians,  if  there  be 
any  present,  to  give  particular  attention  to  the  points  of 
Christian  doctrine  advanced  in  this  letter,  and  the  trains 
of  thought  which  it  suggests.  Mr.  Randolph  was  without 
doubt  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  remarkable  men  this 
country  has  ever  produced : 

"The  father  of  Lord  Russell,  when  condoled  with 
according  to  form,  by  the  book,  replied,  'I  would  not 
give  my  dead  son  for  any  other  man's  living.'  May  this 
thought  come  home  to  your  bosom,  too,  but  not  as  the 
chimera  of  heated  brains,  nor  a  device  of  artful  men  to 
frighten  and  cajole  the  credulous,  but  as  an  existence 
that  can  be  as  much  felt  and  understood  as  the  whisper- 
ings of  your  own  heart,  or  the  love  you  bore  to  him  that 
you  have  lost — may  that  Spirit,  which  is  the  Comforter, 
shed  his  influence  upon  your  soul,  and  incline  your  heart 
and  understanding  to  the  only  right  way,  which  is  that 
of  life  eternal !  Did  you  ever  read  Bishop  Butler's  Ana- 
logy ?  If  not,  I  will  send  it  to  you.  Have  you  read  the 
Book?  What  I  say  upon  this  subject  I  not  only  believe, 
but  I  know  to  be  true,  that  the  Bible,  studied  with  cm 
humble  and  contrite  heart,  never  yet  failed  to  do  its  work, 
even  with  those  who,  from  idiosyncrasy  or  disordered 
minds,  have  conceived  that  they  were  cut  off  from  its 
promises  of  a  life  to  come" 

" i  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ; 

12 


178  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.'  This  was  my 
only  support  and  stay  during  years  of  misery  and  dark- 
ness ;  and  just  as  I  had  almost  begun  to  despair,  after  more 
tha%  ten  years  of  penitence  and  prayer,  it  pleased  God  to 
enable  me  to  see  the  truth,  to  which,  until  then,  my  eyes 
had  been  sealed.  To  this  vouchsafement  I  have  made  the 
most  ungrateful  returns.  But  I  would  not  give  up  my 
slender  portion  of  the  price  paid  for  our  redemption — yes, 
my  brother,  our  redemption,  the  ransom  of  sinners,  of  all 
who  do  not  hug  their  chains  and  refuse  to  come  out  from 
the  house  of  bondage — I  say,  that  I  would  not  exchange 
my  little  portion  in  the  Son  of  David  for  the  power  and 
glory  of  the  Parthian  or  Roman  empires,  as  described  by 
Milton  in  the  temptation  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour — not 
for  all  with  which  the  Enemy  tempted  the  Saviour  of 
man. 

"  This  is  the  secret  of  the  change  in  my  spirits,  which 
all  who  know  me  must  have  observed  within  a  few  years 
past.  After  years  spent  in  humble  and  contrite  entreaty 
that  the  tremendous  sacrifice  on  Mount  Calvary  might  not 
have  been  made  in  vain  for  me,  the  chiefest  of  sinners,  it 
pleased  God  to  speak  his  peace  into  my  heart,  that  peace 
of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding  to  them  that 
know  it  not,  and  even  to  them  that  do.  And  although  I 
have  now,  as  then,  to  reproach  myself  with  time  misspent 
and  faculties  misemployed — although  my  condition  has, 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  resembled  that  of  him  who, 
having  one  evil  spirit  cast  out,  was  taken  possession  of 
by  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked  than  the  first,  and  the 
first  also,  yet  I  trust  that  they  too,  by  the  power  and 
mercy  of  God,  may  be,  if  they  are  not,  vanquished. 


"THE  BOOK,"  OR  ATHEISM.  179 

"But  where  am  I  running  to?  On  this  subject  more 
hereafter.  Meanwhile,  assure  yourself  of  what  is  of  small 
value  compared  with  that  of  those  who  are  a  piece  of 
yourself —of  the  unchanged  regard  and  sympathy  of  your 
mother's  son.  Ah !  my  God !  I  remember  to  have  seen 
her  die,  to  have  followed  her  to  the  grave,  to  have  won- 
dered that  the  sun  continued  to  rise  and  set,  and  the  order 
of  nature  to  go  on.  Ignorant  of  true  religion,  but  not  yet 
an  atheist,  I  remember  with  horror  my  impious  expos- 
tulations with  God  upon  this  bereavement — '  but  not  yet 
an  atheist!'  The  existence  of  atheism  has  been  denied, 
but  I  was  an  honest  one.  Hume  began,  and  Hobbes 
finished  me.     I  read  Spinoza  and  all  the  tribe.     Surely  I 

fell  by  no  ignoble  hand.     And  the  very  man  ( )  who 

gave  me  Hume's  \  Essay  upon  Human  Nature'  to  read, 
administered  '  Beattie  upon  Truth'  as  the  antidote ;  Yenice 
treacle  against  arsenic  and  the  essential  oil  of  bitter  al- 
monds ;  bread  and  milk  poultice  for  the  bite  of  the  cobra 
capello. 

"  Had  I  remained  a  successful  political  leader,  I  might 
never  have  been  a  Christian.  But  it  pleased  God  that 
my  pride  should  be  mortified ;  that  by  death  and  deser- 
tion I  should  lose  my  friends ;  that,  except  in  the  veins  of 
a  maniac,  and  he  too  possessed  '  of  a  child  by  a  deaf  and 
dumb  spirit,'  there  should  not  run  one  drop  of  my  father's 
blood  in  any  living  creature  besides  myself.  The  death 
of  Tudor  finished  my  humiliation.  I  had  tried  all  things 
but  the  refuge  to  Christ,  and  to  that,  with  parental  stripes, 
was  I  driven.  Often  did  I  cry  out  with  the  father  of  that 
wretched  boy,  'Lord!  I  believe — help  thou  mine  un- 
belief ;'  and  the  gracious  mercy  of  our  Lord  to  this  waver- 


180  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

ing  faith,  staggering  under  the  force  of  the  hard  heart  of 
unbelief,  I  humbly  hoped  would,  in  his  good  time,  be  ex- 
tended to  me  also.     Mark,  vii.,  17-29. 

"  Throw  Revelation  aside,  and  I  can  drive  any  man  by 
irresistible  induction  to  atheism.  John  Marshall  could 
not  resist  me.  When  I  say  any  man,  I  mean  a  man 
capable  of  logical  and  consequential  reasoning. '  Deism 
is  the  refuge  of  those  that  startle  at  atheism,  and  can't 

believe  Revelation,  and  my (may  God  have  forgiven 

us  both)  and  myself  used,  with  Diderot  &  Co.,  to  laugh 
it  the  deistical  bigots  who  must  have  milk,  not  being 
able  to  digest  meat.  All  theism  is  derived  from  Reve- 
lation— that  of  the  laws  confessedly.  Our  own  is  from  the 
same  source— so  is  the  false  revelation  of  Mohammed ; 
and  I  can't  much  blame  the  Turks  for  considering  the 
Franks  and  Greeks  to  be  idolaters.  Every  other  idea  of 
one  God  that  floats  in  the  world  is  derived  from  the 
tradition  of  the  sons  of  Koah  handed  down  to  their  pos- 
terity. 

"But  enough,  and  more  than  enough;  I  can  scarcely 
guide  my  pen.  I  will,  however,  add  that  no  lukewarm 
seeker  ever  became  a  Christian ;  for  '  from  the  days  of 
John  the  Baptist  until  now,  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  suf- 
fereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force' — a  text 
which  I  read  five  hundred  times  before  I  had  the  slight- 
est conception  of  its  true  application. 

u  Your  brother, 

"J.  R.,  or  Roanoke. 

"  To  H.  St.  G.Tucker,  Esq." 

Fourthly.  You  are  here  taught  the  omniscience  of  God. 
The  king  was  walking  on  his  palace  top,  and  he  said  to 


DIVINE  OMNISCIENCE  181 

himself,  "Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that  I  have  built V' 
And,  at  the  end  of  days,  he  "lifted  up  his  eyes  unto  hea- 
ven."    In  both  instances  God  was  nigh  unto  him.     He 
heard  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  in  his  pride-  ind  he  heard 
the  whispering  of  his  soul  in  his  penitence.    Prayer  ic 
equally  powerful  in  the  cabinet  and  in  the  hovel  of  straw. 
God  sees  as  clearly  the  toilings  of  the  slave  as  the  labors 
of  the  statesman.     God's  eye  is  just   as  closely  riveted 
upon  you,  young  man,  or  upon  you,  young  woman,  as  you 
pursue  your  occupation  in  the  crowded  city  or  seek  a 
home  in  a  strange  land,  as  if  you  were  the  only  individual 
in  the  universe.     There  is  not  a  thought  that  nutters  in 
your  hearts — there  is  not  a  purpose  in  your  mind  formed 
for  to-morrow   or  for  the   future — there  is  not  a  secret 
spring  of  wickedness  arising  in  any  bosom — there  is  not  a 
design  that  is  cherished  in  the  secrecy  of  any  heart,  either 
for  good  or  evil,  that  you  can  hide  from  God.     His  eye 
pierces  the  darkness — His  ear  hears  in  silence — His  laws 
and  his  presence  are  every  where.     He  is  the  final  Judge, 
who  will  bring  every  secret  thing  to  light,  and  judge 
every  man  according  to  the  thoughts  of  his  heart,  the 
words  of  his  mouth,  and  the  deeds  of  his  body,  whether 
they  be  good  or  whether  they  be  evil.     How  solemn  is 
the  consideration  that  those  thoughts  which  you  wish  to 
conceal  from  that  person  who  sits  beside  you  in  the  pew 
are  known  to  God ;  and  your  schemes,  plans,  and  imagin- 
ations, that  you  would  not  disclose  to  a  mother  or  a  friend 
for  all  the  world,  are  perfectly  known  to  Him.     How 
solemn  is  the  reflection  that  all  your  vows  and  resolutions 
in  times  of  danger,  and  on  your  sick-bed,  are  daguerreo- 
typed  for  the  day  of  judgment.     How  can  you  meet  all 


182  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

your  sins  at  the  bar  of  God  ?  What  an  awful  idea  is  this, 
that  at  the  judgment- day  a  man's  secret  thoughts  will  be 
set  in  the  light  of  God's  countenance !  What  a  fearful 
spectacle  to  an  impenitent  sinner  to  see  all  his  sins  rise 
with  his  body  from  the  grave !  Is  the  doctrine  of  God's 
omniscience  a  source  of  alarm  or  of  comfort  to  you  ? 
Does  the  thought  of  God  trouble  you?  Is  there  any  one 
of  you  ready  to  say,  "lama  wretch  undone ;  how  can  I 
escape  the  wrath  of  God?  I  am  a  guilty  sinner!"  Then 
hear  what  the  Gospel  says  to  you :  "  The  Blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  Jesus  Christ  came 
to  seek  and  save  the  lost.    Amen. 


L'ESSONS  FROM  THE  LAST  LECTURE.  183 


LECTURE  IX. 

LESSONS   FROM   THE   KING'S   DREAM. 

On  Dan.,  iv. 

Moral  Lessons  in  History  do  not  prove  that  History  Fiction.  Sparks'  Wash- 
ington.— Proper  End  of  all  Government — Prosperity  is  dangerous. — Scotch 
Fir-tree. —  When  Riches  are  safe. — Danger  of  Pride. — Flat  Roofs  in  the  East. 
— Lesson  of  all  History  is  that  Pride  goeth  before  Destruction. — Luxembourg 
Picture  of  tlie  Decadence  of  tlie  Romans. — Money  the  Idol  of  the  nineteenth 
Century. — Several  Characters  who  walk  in  Pride. —  Obstinacy  of  Pride. — It 
prevents  Conversion  to  God. — Sunbeams  only  can  melt  the  Icicle. — Salvation 
only  by  Grace. — Finally  impenitent  cannot  escape. — God's  Providence  gen- 
eral and  special. — Preservation  of  Judah. — Angels  in  Charge  of  the  Universe. 
—  God  has  Purposes. — Man  free  Agent. — God  warns  before  He  smites. — A 
faithful  Prophet  and  Minister  of  State.       4 

The  lessons  which  were  drawn  from  the  defense  and 
teachings  of  the  king's  remarkable  decree  in  the  last  lec- 
ture were, 

L  The  sinfulness  and  danger  of  pride. 

II.  That  madness  is  a  great  misfortune,  and  conse- 
quently the  use  of  our  faculties  calls  for  gratitude  and 
their  proper  improvement. 

III.  Tlie  benefits  of  sanctified  affliction.  This  is  a  pre- 
cious though  painful  lesson  that  all  of  us  may  learn.  We 
all  share  in  earth's  sorrowings.  The  remarkable  letter  of 
John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  was  presented,  condoling 
with  his  step-brother  on  the  death  of  nis  son.  In  this 
letter,  amid  much  that  was  tender  and  appropriate,  you 
recollect  this  brilliant  man  bears  his  bold  and  decided 


184  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

testimony  to  the  divinity  of  Christ,  the  reality  of  IJis 
atonement  for  sin,  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to 
the  old-fashioned  doctrines  of  conversion  to  God  and  re- 
demption by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  to  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  necessity  of  personally 
seeking  religion  with  persevering  earnestness.  It  is  not 
true,  then,  that  great  and  liberal  minds  have  outgrown 
these  doctrines.  Let  our  law  and  medical  students,  and 
the  members  of  our  University,  and  our  literary  and  poli- 
tical men,  remember  that  America's  great  men  have  been 
not  only  believers  in  the  Bible,  but  most  of  them  decided 
and  firm  adherents  to  the  doctrines  and  principles  of  the 
Westminster  Catechism.* 

IY.  A  fourth  lesson  was  the  Omniscience  of  God,  as 
seen  in  his  knowledge  of  the  king's  heart,  and  in  the 
hearing  of  the  king's  prayer,  as  well  as  in  the  hearing  of 
Daniel's  prayer. 

You  are  aware  that  the  fact  that  moral  lessons  are 
taught  in  the  history  before  us  is  alleged  as  a  reason  for 
denying  the  historical  truth  of  the  book  of  Daniel,  and  for 
making  it  a  mere  romance  or  political  satire.  But  it  is 
difficult  to  see  why  or  how  the  moral  lessons  of  the  nar- 
ratives and  decrees  should  make  the  whole  history  a 
romance.  Nor  is  there  a  single  incident  or  shadow  of 
proof  that  the  book  is  a  pious  fraud.  If  the  object  of  the 
book  was,  as  these  critics  say,  to  represent  the  character 
and  the  doom  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  to  encourage 
the  Jews  to  persevere  in  their  opposition  to  that  tyrant, 
why  is  there  no  mention  of  him?     How  comes  it  that 

*  Many  of  the  students  of  the  University  and  of  the  members  of  the 
Legislature  attended  the  delivery  of  these  Lectures. 


SPARKS'  LIFE  OF  WASHINGTON.  185 

there  is  nothing  in  his  life  to  correspond  with  the  chapter 
before  us?  The  points  are  not  similar,  but  dissimilar. 
Antiochus  Epiphanes  was  no  otherwise  a  madman  than 
as  all  tyrants  are.  His  madness  was  from  the  vileness 
of  his  conduct  and  the  insatiable  cruelty  of  his  heart,  and 
not  from  any  derangement  of  his  intellect.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar did  not  persecute  the  Jews  for  their  religion.  An- 
tiochus did,  even  to  the  last  extremity.  Nebuchadnezzar 
repented  after  his  madness,  and  proclaimed  his  penitence 
to  the  world.  Antiochus  did  neither.  Both,  indeed,  were 
heathen  kings,  and  both  were  zealots  for  idolatry ;  but  so 
were  hundreds  of  other  kings.  There  is,  therefore,  no 
speciality  in  his  case  to  make  him  the  subject.  The  parti- 
culars of  this  fourth  chapter  do  not  suit  the  life  and  death 
of  Antiochus.  And  besides  all  this,  we  have  proof,  as  I 
have  shown  before,  of  the  existence  of  the  book  of  Daniel 
long  before  Antiochus  was  born.  Josephus  boldly  de- 
clares that  Daniel  wrote  his  book  many  years  before  the 
things  happened  which  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of  An- 
tiochus. It  is  readily  acknowledged  that  the  book  of 
Daniel  has  a  moral  and  religious  substratum.  This  we  had 
a  right  to  expect  from  his  character,  but  it  certainly  does 
not  follow  that  the  historical  part  of  it  is  not  a  true  his- 
tory. There  are  many  moral,  political,  and  pious  lessons 
to  be  learned  from  Sparks'  Life  and  Writings  of  Wash- 
ington, but  surely  it  does  not  follow  that  Sparks'  Life  of 
Washington  is  a  political  satire,  or  a  religious  romance. 

Read  verses  1-19.  It  appears  from  the  history  that 
there  was  a  class  or  order  of  men  in  the  kingdom  whose 
business  it  was  to  interpret  dreams,  especially  such  as 
were  supposed  to  be  supernatural.    History  and  the  monu- 


186  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

ments  of  the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates  tell  us  that  such 
an  order  of  dream  interpreters  existed  generally  among 
Oriental  nations.  The  interpretation  of  the  dream  is  given 
in  verses  19-28,  which  please  read.  Let  us  continue  our 
Lessons ;  and, 

I.  We  see  what  should  be  the  end  of  all  government. 
Yerses  11,  12. 

A  great  man  is  often  symbolized  by  a  tree  in  ancient 
and  Oriental  writers.  The  king's  tree  gave  shelter  to 
some,  a  home  to  others,  and  protection  to  all.  As  the 
shade  and  fruits  of  trees  protect  and  support  the  beasts 
that  seek  shelter  under  them,  so  governments  should 
protect  and  support  their  people. 

The  end  of  every  government  should  be  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  freedom  and  happiness  to  all  the 
people.  It  should  protect  the  weak,  give  shelter  to  the 
oppressed,  hope  and  employment  to  the  poor,  and  provide 
for  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge.  By  the  stump  of 
the  roots  remaining  is  meant  that  his  kingdom  should  not 
be  destroyed  or  alienated  from  him  during  his  affliction. 
A  regent,  probably  his  own  son,  Evil-merodach,  governed 
for  him  during  his  insanity. 

II.  This  history  teaches  us  another  thing — that  prosper- 
ity is  dangerous.  It  is  not  always  the  beggar  that  loses 
his  soul.  The  man  who  has  just  lost  all  his  property  is 
oftentimes  not  in  as  much  danger  as  the  man  who  has 
just  gained  a  large  fortune.  It  requires  more  care  to 
hold  a  full  cup  than  an  empty  one.  Wealth  is  attended 
with  ceaseless  anxiety — anxiety  to  keep  it,  to  preserve  it, 
to  increase  it,  to  enjoy  it,  or  to  make  a  show  of  it,  and 
anxiety,  more  or  less,  for  the  responsibility  it  imposes. 


DANGER  OF  PROSPERITY— SCOTCH  FIR.  187 

"  Adversity  may  depress,  but  prosperity  elevates  to  pre- 
sumption." The  accumulation  of  wealth  for  its  own  sake 
brings  with  it  its  own  punishment  in  the  drying  up  of 
every  fountain  of  human  affection  within  us,  in  the  dis- 
ruption of  every  tie  with  which  the  charities  of  life  are 
bound,  and  in  the  conversion  of  the  heart  into  a  substance 
"  harder  than  the  nether  millstone."  The  hoarding  up  of 
riches  is  a  curse  both  here  and  hereafter.  Beware  of 
covetousness,  saith  the  Bible,  which  is  idolatry.  It  is  my 
duty  frequently  to  ask  the  prayers  of  the  congregation  for 
a  member  of  the  Church  in  deep  affliction,  for  one  who  is 
sorely  bereaved,  or  extremely  ill,  or  otherwise  in  great 
distress.  It  is  always  agreeable  to  ask  the  prayers  of  the 
Church  for  any  one  that  desires  them,  but  it  is  often  true 
that  the  members  of  the  Church  who  are  visited  with 
great  prosperity  need  prayers  just  as  much,  if  not  more, 
than  those  that  are  suffering  adversity.  On  the  lofty 
pinnacle,  where  all  is  sunshine,  we  need  a  special  power 
to  keep  us,  a  special  arm  to  sustain  us.  "  The  Scotch  fir- 
tree,"  says  one,  "  to  my  mind,  is  the  best  symbol  of  the 
Christian.  The  least  of  earth  is  required  for  its  roots  ;  it 
finds  nourishment  in  a  dry  soil,  and  amid  barren  rocks, 
and  yet,  green  in  winter  as  in  summer,  it  towers  the 
highest  of  all  the  trees  of  the  wood  toward  the  sky,  and, 
with  least  of  earth,  makes  the  greatest  approach  to  heaven. 
So  it  is  with  the  tree  of  God's  planting  :  with  the  least  of 
earth  about  its  roots,  it  towers  the  nearest  to  heaven; 
deriving  nourishment  not  from  the  earth  below,  but  from 
the  sunbeams  that  fall  upon  it  and  the  rain-drops  that 
sprinkle  it,  supported  by  that  hidden  nourishment  that 
comes  from  God." — dimming. 


188  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Never,  perhaps,  was  there  a  time  of  more  general  pros- 
perity than  the  present.  In  all  departments  of  business 
throughout  the  land,  industry  and  enterprise  are  attended 
with  unwonted  success.  Kail-roads  and  steam-ships  are 
built,  and  commerce  is  carrying  our  influence  over  the 
world.  The  gold  of  California  and  of  Australia,  with  the 
abundant  products  of  the  ground,  promise  an  auspicious 
future.  Let  me  warn  you,  then,  to  remember  that  pros- 
perity is  not  always  permanent.  Commercial  disasters 
often  come  in  a  way  and  at  a  time  least  expected.  The 
tendency  of  prosperity  is  to  lead  to  dangerous  expendi- 
tures and  speculations.  "What  now  seems  so  promising 
may  result  in  disappointment.  God  sometimes  leaves 
those  that  forsake  Him  to  have  their  portion  for  a  season 
in  worldly  things,  who  find  that  the  end  is  bitterness  and 
woe.  But  even  if  your  prosperity  continues,  riches  un- 
sanctified  are  exceedingly  dangerous  to  the  soul.  "They 
that  will  be  rich  pierce  themselves  through  with  many 
sorrows,  and  fall  into  divers  temptations."  Experience 
has  long  since  settled  the  question  about  the  vanity  of 
worldly  honors  and  possessions.  Happiness  and  the  in- 
crease of  wealth  do  not  always  go  hand  in  hand.  The 
joys  of  a  miser's  heart  are  not  to  be  envied.  The  life, 
experience,  joys,  character,  and  death  of  the  richest  men 
of  this  city  are  not  such  as  we  wish  you  to  possess,  nor 
such  as  you  yourselves  can  rationally  desire.  Beware  of 
misusing  the  gifts  of  Providence.  If  riches  increase,  set 
not  your  hearts  upon  them.  Seek  daily  to  know  what 
God  would  have  you  do  with  the  good  things  He  intrusts 
to  your  hands,  and  especially  take  care  that  your  piety 
and  usefulness  keep  pace  with  your  prosperity.     If  your 


OEIENTAL  HOUSE-TOPS.  189 

fervency  of  spirit  and  enlargedness  of  heart  keep  pace 
with  your  increase  of  worldly  goods,  then  your  riches  will 
prove  to  you  a  rich  fountain  of  spiritual  good,  and  your 
prosperity  prove  to  be  a  blessing,  and  not  a  curse. 

III.  As  the  great  lesson  of  this  chapter  is,  that  pride  is 
in  itself  and  in  its  utterances  an  exceedingly  dangerous 
thing,  and  odious  in  the  sight  of  God,  I  will  dwell  here  a 
little  upon  it.  "  And  those  that  walk  in  pride,  He  is  able 
to  abase."     See  verses  29-35. 

At  the  end  of  twelve  months,  he  walked  in  the  palace  of 
the  kingdom  of  Babylon. 

You  all  know  that  the  houses  in  Bible  lands  are  built 
with  flat  roofs,  and  frequently  so  joined  together  that  one 
may  go  over  a  large  part  of  an  Oriental  city  without  des- 
cending into  the  street  at  all.  The  streets  are  narrow, 
and  the  houses  frequently  protrude  on  both  sides  of  the 
street,  so  as  to  join  each  other  over  the  head  of  street 
travelers-  It  was  and  is  the  custom  of  the  East  to  medi- 
tate and  take  recreation  on  the  house-top,  to  pray,  and 
even  receive  company,  and  take  tea  and  other  meals.  I 
have  seen  this  done  in  Cairo,  Damascus,  and  Jerusalem. 
Peter,  you  know,  was  on  a  house-top  at  Joppa  when 
Cornelius'  messenger  arrived.  And  we  read  (1  Sam.,  ix.) 
that  Saul  and  Samuel  conversed  together  on  the  house- 
top, and  they  spread  a  bed  for  Saul  on  the  house-top,  and 
he  slept.  The  verse  before  us,  then,  is  easily  understood 
by  all  who  consider  the  customs  of  the  country.  The 
king  walked  upon  the  roof  of  his  palace,  or  upon  the 
terrace  thereof,  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air  and  a  fine  prospect, 
and  survey  the  city,  and  he  fell  into  a  revery  of  pride  and 
presumption.     The  view  was  indeed  a  magnificent  one. 


190  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

His  palace  was  the  greatest  and  richest  then  on  earth.  It 
rose  above  the  walls  of  the  surrounding  dwellings.  The 
atmosphere  of  that  country  is. transparent,  and  the  skies 
brilliant.  His  palace  overlooked  the  city,  the  mistress  of 
the  world — its  size  and  riches,  and  the  height  and  breadth 
of  its  walls  wonderfully  prodigious.  Its  hanging  gardens, 
and  glittering  palaces,  and  profusion  of  gold  and  of  huge 
statuary,  are  the  astonishment  of  all  historians,  both  an- 
cient and  modern.  The  great  Euphrates  rolled  its  majestic 
flood  through  the  middle  of  the  city,  and  was  shut  in  both 
above  and  below  by  strong  bulwarks  and  doors  of  solid 
brass.  With  such  a  view  within  the  field  of  his  vision, 
and  himself  the  absolute  lord  of  all,  and  crowned  with 
singular  prosperity  for  a  long  life,  it  was  natural,  yet 
wicked  for  him,  to  be  elated  and  arrogant  in  the  way  des- 
cribed. 

That  pride  goes  before  a  fall,  is  one  of  the  great  lessons 
of  all  history.  The  providence  of  God  has  been  inculcat- 
ing ever  since  the  world  began,  that  "  those  which  walk 
in  pride  He  is  able  to  abase." 

The  first  sin  is  supposed  to  have  originated  in  pride. 
Man  tried  in  paradise  to  soar  to  heaven;  but  his  frail 
wings  were  soon  dissolved.  He  fell,  and  earth  received 
the  terrible  retribution.  "Sin  brought  death  into  the 
wrorld,  and  all  our  woe."  Cain,  stained  with  his  brother's 
blood,  went  forth  into  the  world  with  this  legible  inscrip- 
tion upon  his  scathed  brow,  Them  that  walk  in  pride 
God  is  able  to  abase. 

And  in  the  period  of  human  history  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  flood,  we  are  told  that  the  pride  and  wicked- 
ness of  men  were  exceedingly  great.     They  were  corrupt, 


COtTTURE'S  GREAT  PICTURE.  191 

and  full  of  all  iniquity.  And  God  opened  the  fountains 
of  the  great  deep,  and  the  old  world  was  drowned,  and 
the  truth  disclosed  was,  "  Them  that  walk  in  pride  God  is 
able  to  abase."  The  confusion  of  tongues  at  the  Tower 
of  Babel  proves  the  same  thing.  The  destruction  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  of  the  Canaanites,  like  the 
text,  are  proofs  that  pride  leads  to  destruction.  The  his- 
tory  of  the  world's  great  empires  is  a  running  comment- 
ary on  Nebuchadnezzar's  text.  They  have  not  all  fallen 
by  some  sudden  stroke  of  Almighty  power,  yet  the  same 
truth  is  demonstrated.  The  very  principles  that  influenced 
their  great  founders  by  a  slow  but  sure  process  brought 
their  ruin.  There  is  a  picture  in  the  Luxembourg  gallery 
in  Paris — "  The  Decadence  of  the  Romans"—- which  made 
the  fame  and  fortune  of  the  painter  Couture.  This  picture 
is  a  whole  history,  with  the  moral.  It  represents  an  orgie 
in  the  court  of  a  temple,  during  the  last  days  of  Eome. 
A  swarm  of  revelers  occupy  the  middle  of  the  picture, 
men  and  women  intermingled  in  all  the  elaborate  intri- 
cacy of  luxurious  posture.  Their  faces,  in  which  the  old 
Roman  fire  scarcely  flickers,  are  brutalized  with  excess 
of  every  kind,  while  from  goblets  of  an  antique  grace  they 
drain  the  fiery  torrent  which  is  destroying  them.  Around 
the  bacchanalian  feast  stand,  upon  pedestals,  statues  of 
old  Rome,  looking  with  marble  calmness  and  severity 
upon  the  revelers.  In  one  part  of  the  picture  a  boy  is 
seen  proffering  a  dripping  goblet  to  the  marble  mouth  of 
a  statue ;  and  in  the  corner  of  the  picture,  as  if  leaving 
court — Rome,  as  finally  departing — is  a  group  of  Romans, 
with  care-worn  brows,  and  hands  raised  to  their  faces,  in 
melancholy  meditation.     The  causes  of  the  decline  and 


192  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

fall  of  the  Koman  empire  were  within  itself.  They  were 
luxury,  pride,  faction,  corruption,  and  crime.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, Tamerlane,  Alexander,  and  Caesar  all  found  that 
the  higher  they  soared,  the  deeper  and  the  more  disastrous 
was  their  fall.  Whenever  and  wherever  great  schemes 
and  systems  have  arisen  that  have  thrust  out  God  and 
exalted  man,  the  same  great  result  has  invariably  follow- 
ed. "  Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in  his  wisdom,  neither 
let  the  mighty  man  glory  in  his  might ;  let  not  the  rich 
man  glory  in  his  riches,  but  let  him  that  glorieth  glory 
in  this,  that  he  knoweth  the  Lord  and  doeth  His  will." 
Money  is  the  idol  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  banker 
has  far  more  power  than  ever  Nebuchadnezzar  had ;  and 
the  greater  is  the  responsibility  of  having  wealth,  as  the 
means  for  doing  good  with  it  are  increased.  Power  and 
wealth,  beauty  and  accomplishments,  are  not  the  only 
causes  of  pride.  The  impenitent,  careless  sinner,  who 
thinks  nothing  of  God,  and  cares  nothing  about  his  soul, 
walks  in  perilous  pride  upon  the  brink  of  an  awful  pre- 
cipice. The  self-righteous  man,  who  thinks  his  own 
righteousness  good  enough  to  take  him  to  heaven,  and 
rejects  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  walks  in  pride ;  and 
the  worldly-minded  man,  whose  living  is  after  the  lust  of 
the  eyes,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  pride  of  life,  walks 
in  pride.  Pride  does  not  belong  exclusively  to  the  rich 
and  great.  It  is  not  patented  to  those  that  have  fine 
houses  and  carriages.  Pride  grows  in  a  hovel  as  well  as 
in  a  palace.  We  are  all  proud  by  nature.  It  is  a  part 
of  our  corrupt  disposition.  It  is  the  cause  of  many  sor- 
rows and  of  most  of  our  misfortunes.  It  is  through  pride 
and  stubbornness,  the  pride  of  intellect  and  pride  of  stand- 


GRACE  ALONE  CAN  CONVERT.  193 

ing  with  their  neighbors,  that  many  men  lire  and  die 
unconverted.  Nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  can  subdue 
the  pride  of  the  human  heart.  All  the  miracles  of  Moses, 
even  the  death  of  his  first-born,  failed  to  bring  down  the 
pride  of  Pharaoh.  All  the  preaching,  and  reasoning,  and 
pleading  of  the  most  eloquent  minister  of  Christ  that  ever 
spoke  will  fail  to  abase  the  pride  of  a  single  individual  in 
his  audience,  unless  the  rays  of  the  Gospel  are  made  to 
fall  by  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  his  heart.  The  wind  may 
beat  upon  the  icicle — the  storm  may  smite  it — the  earth- 
quake may  split  it — the  avalanche  may  descend,  and  send 
it  thundering  down  into  the  valley  below,  but  it  is  the 
sunbeam  only  that  can  thaw  and  melt  it.  Experience  of 
mercies  and  of  judgments  cannot  subdue  the  pride  of 
man's  heart.  How  often  do  you  see  this  verified.  Have 
you  not  tried  cistern  after  cistern,  and  found  them  broken 
cisterns  that  could  hold  no  water,  and  yet  gone  on  dig- 
ging other  cisterns  as  laboriously  as  if  you  had  had  no 
experience  of  failures  ?  And  you,  that  other  young  man, 
have  you  not  found  flower  after  flower  fade  and  wither, 
the  instant  you  touched  it?  and  yet  you  are  still  seeking 
other  flowers  as  fragile.  How  is  it  that,  after  joy  on  joy 
has  been  pursued,  and  has  perished,  the  instant  you 
thought  you  had  grasped  it,  that  you  seek,  and  still  seek, 
pleasures  where  they  cannot  be  found  ?  Why  is  it  that 
you  will  still  seek  the  living  among  the  dead  ?  It  is  be- 
cause you  do  not  like  to  be  indebted  even  to  God  for 
salvation.  You  would  like  to  save  yourself — to  justify, 
regenerate,  and  sanctify  yourself.  If  by  money,  or  com- 
mercial integrity,  or  domestic  virtues,  or  if  even  by  pen- 
ances and  pilgrimages  you  could  work  out  jour  salvation, 

13 


194  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

you  would  be  content ;  but  to  submit  to  be  saved  by 
grace,  just  as  the  greatest  criminal  may  be  saved,  is  re- 
volting to  the  pride  of  every  unrenewed  heart.  But  there 
is  no  other  way  to  heaven  than  by  faith  in  Christ.  The 
song  of  the  redeemed  ascribes  all  the  praise  to  Him  who 
hath  loved  them,  and  washed  them  from  their  sins  in  his 
own  blood. 

IV.  We  have' here  one  of  the  most  striking  and  in- 
structive lessons  of  God's  power  to  humble  the  proud  that 
is  recorded  in  the  Bible.  Babylon's  mighty  monarch  had 
made  many  successful  campaigns,  and  obtained  great 
glory.  He  was  the  head  of  the  mightiest  kingdom  and 
ruler  over  the  greatest  city  then  in  the  world;  but  his 
riches  and  his  fame,  his  treasures  and  his  power,  could 
not  preserve  his  peace  of  mind.  His  well-appointed 
guards  and  numerous  army  could  not  keep  him  from  be- 
ing terrified  by  dreams.  The  majesty  and  all-governing 
influence  of  God  are  here  displayed  in  his  acknowledged, 
absolute,  undisputed  sovereignty  over  the  world.  God's 
victory  over  the  mightiest  and  proudest  conqueror  was 
easy  and  complete.  He  is  made  to  confess  that  his  own 
strength  of  mind  and  body,  and  the  power  and  splendor 
of  all  his  kingdom,  were  nothing;  and  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth  are  as  nothing  before  Him :  "  And  he  doeth 
according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven,  and  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  and  none  can  stay  his  hand, 
or  say  unto  him,  What  doest  thou?  At  the  same  time 
my  reason  returned  unto  me,  and,  for  the  glory  of 
my  kingdom,  mine  honor  and  brightness  returned  unto 
me,  and  my  counsellors  and  my  lords  sought  unto  me, 
and  I  was  established  in  my  kingdom,  and   excellent 


GOD'S  PEOVIDENCE.— JOSEPHUS.  195 

majesty  was  added  unto  me.  Now  I,  Nebuchadnezzar, 
praise,  and  extol,  and  honor  the  King  of  heaven,  all  whose 
works  are  t/uth,  and  his  ways  judgment ;  and  those  that 
walk  in  ^ride  he  is  able  to  abase." 

How  utterly  in  vain,  then,  for  the  impenitent  to  hope 
to  escape  from  the  presence  of  God !  If  they  dig  into 
hell,  in  the  language  of  the  prophet,  thence  will  He  take 
them — though  they  climb  up  to  heaven,  thence  will  He 
brine:  them  down.  The  Lord  God  of  Hosts  is  his  name  : 
all  the  universe  is  in  his  hands.  There  is  but  one  way  of 
escape,  and  that  is  to  fly  to  Christ,  the  Lamb  of  God. 

Y.  The  history  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  dreams 
shows  that  God  exercises  a  general  and  special  provi- 
dence over  all  the  affairs  of  the  universe  and  of  men 

Josephus,  after  explaining  Daniel's  visions  which  he 
had  at  Shusha  concerning  the  Babylonian,  Median,  and 
Persian  empires,  and  concerning  the  Greeks  and  Komans, 
and  his  own  countrymen,  says,  "  And  so  it  came  to  pass, 
that  our  nation  (as  well  as  these  other  nations)  suffered 
the  things  foretold  by  Daniel  under  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
— which  things  Daniel  wrote  many  years  before  they 
came  to  pass.  All  these  things  did  this  man  leave  in 
writing,  as  God  had  showed  them  to  him,  insomuch  that 
such  as  read  his  prophecies,  and  see  how  they  have  been 
fulfilled,  would  wonder  at  the  honor  wherewith'  God 
honored  Daniel ;  and  may  thence  discover  how  the  Epi- 
cureans are  in  error,  who  cast  Providence  out  of  human 
life,  and  do  not  believe  that  God  takes  care  of  the  affairs 
of  the  world,  nor  that  the  universe  is  governed  and  con- 
tinued in  being  by  that  blessed  and  immortal  nature,  but 
say  that  the  world  is  carried  aloug  of  its  own  accord  with- 


^ 


196  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL, 

out  a  Ruler  and  a  Creator .;  which,  were  it  destitute  of  a 
guide  to  conduct  it,  as  they  imagine,  would  be  like  ships 
without  pilots,  which  we  see  drowned  by  the  winds,  or 
like  chariots  without  drivers,  which  are  overturned ;  so 
would  the  world  be  dashed  to  pieces  by  its  being  carried 
onward  without  a  Providence,  and  so  perish  and  come  to 
naught.  So  that,  by  the  before-mentioned  predictions  of 
Daniel,  those  men  seem  to  me  very  much  to  err  from  the 
truth  who  determine  that  God  exercises  no  providence 
over  human  affairs ;  for  if  that  were  the  case,  that  the 
world  went  on  by  mechanical  necessity,  we  should  not 
see  that  all  things  would  come  to  pass  according  to  his 
prophecy." — Antiq.,  book  x.  chap.  11. 

God  has  always  exercised  a  special  providence  over  his 
people.  Although,  for  their  sins,  the  Jews  were  carried 
away  to  Babylon,  and  deprived  of  their  political  and  per- 
sonal liberty,  still  they  were  not  left  without  some  tokens 
for  good — still  God  had  not  abandoned  them.  They  still 
had  a  prophet.  Nor  were  they  reduced  to  an  absolute 
famine  of  the  word  of  God.  By  the  captivity  the  ten 
tribes  either  became  amalgamated  with  their  heathen 
conquerors,  or  were  transported  to  foreign  lands,  and  thus 
disappeared  from  the  pages  of  history.  This  was  foretold 
by  their  prophets ;  and  the  lapse  of  two  thousand  years  has 
brought  nothing  to  light  concerning  their  fate.  But  it 
was  different  with  Judah.  They  were  restored  by  the 
edict  of  Cyrus ;  and  the  especial  interferences  of  God  in 
the  history  of  Daniel  were  intended  to  preserve  a  remnant 
of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  that  out  of  the  root  of  Jesse 
might  come  the  Messiah. 

The  ministration  of  watchers  and  holy  ones — i.e.,  of  the 


HEAVENLY  WATCHERS.— DECREES.  19^ 

angels — in  the  government  of  the  world,  is  taught  in  the 
Bible,  as  well  as  in  the  religions  of  the  East.  Angels  are 
represented  in  the  Bible  as  watching  over  and  having  an 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  men,  and  as  being  the  execu- 
tioners of  God's  will,  and  they  seem  to  be  spoken  of  here 
as  having  cognizance  and  control  of  the  fate  of  men. 

VI.  We  see  from  the  king's  proclamation  that  God  has 
pceposes  or  decrees  as  well  as  prescience.  "  He  doeth 
according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven,  and  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth."  God,  as  a  being  of  infinite 
perfection,  not  only  foreknows  what  will  come  to  pass, 
but  He  also  purposes  the  events  that  take  place.  He 
doeth  according  to  His  will.  Without  this  prophecy 
would  be  all  nonsense.  How  could  God  inspire  a  man 
to  foretell  an  event,  unless  he  also  worked  out  its  fulfill- 
ment ?  The  knowledge  of  an  event  to  take  place,  on  the 
part  of  God,  comprehends  all  the  means  to  bring  about 
that  event.  The  term  foreknowledge,  used  in  reference  to 
the  Divine  Being,  is  so  used  wholly  out  of  regard  to  our 
weakness.  There  is  no  such  thing  with  God  as  fore- 
knowledge  or  <z/fer-knowledge.  His  knowledge  is  per- 
fect. It  can  never  be  increased  or  diminished — cannot 
be  added  to  or  taken  from>  His  knowledge  was  as  ac- 
curate and  complete  on  the  day  of  creation  as  it  will  be 
at  the  day  of  final  judgment. 

The  holy  men  of  old,  who  spoke  as  they  were  moved 
thereto  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  uttering  prophecies,  were 
amanuenses  of  God's  truth ;  and  history  is  the  work  of 
men,  holy  and  unholy,  as  amanuenses  of  God's  provi- 
dence.   "  God  writes  the  prophecy  in  Scripture,  and  God 


198  •     LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

fulfills  the  prophecy  in  history,  and  yet  God  is  not  the 
author  of  sin."  God,  though  the  author  of  every  thing 
that  is  good,  is  not  the  author  of  any  thing  that  is  sinful. 
No  violence  is  done  to  the  freedom  of  the  human  will. 
Man  is  not  a  mere  automaton,  but  a  rational,  reflecting, 
free,  responsible  being,  deliberately  choosing  his  own 
destiny. 

VII.  God  often  manifests  loth  his  sovereignty  and  bene- 
volence in  learning  Then  of  the  consequences  of  their  sins, 
in  order  that  they  may  avert  the  doom  threatened,  but 
not  yet  sealed,  by  repentance  and  righteousness.  Daniel 
interpreted  the  king's  dream,  and  boldly  and  faithfully 
warned  him,  and  told  him  how  to  escape  from  the  judg- 
ment which  it  portended.  The  king  had  a  whole  year 
given  him  to  reflect  on  the  interpretation  of  his  dream, 
but  the  warning  was  in  vain.  The  fruit  sought  was  not 
obtained  till  after  the  threatened  punishment  had  been 
inflicted.  God  was  pleased  to  pursue  the  same  method 
in  the  time  of  Noah,  and  toward  the  Jews  before  the  cap- 
tivity, and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  in  the  time  of 
the  Saviour,  and  so  now  by  the  Gospel.  "  Moreover,  O 
king,  let  my  counsel  be  acceptable  before  thee,  and  break 
off  thy  sins  by  righteousness,  and  thy  transgressions  by 
showing  mercy  to  the  poor."  He  does  not  tell  the  king 
to  redeem  his  sins  by  penance,  genuflection,  and  pilgrim- 
age. He  tells  him  to  break  off  from  his  sins — to  cease  to 
do  evil,  and  learn  to  do  well.  He  was  reluctant  to  an- 
nounce calamities  to  his  king,  yet  he  could  not  turn  aside 
from  the  truth.  "While,  therefore  he  warns  him  of  im- 
pending afflictions,  he  earnestly  entreats  him  to  bring 


HONESTY  IN  FAITHFUL  PREACHERS.  199 

forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance,  and  to  be  ready  to  show 
mercy  to  others,  especially  the  multitudes  of  poor  captives 
that  were  in  his  kingdom.     O  that  we  could  imitate  Dan- 
iel in  his  honesty  and  earnest  faithfulness.     What  a  lesson 
have  we  here  for  all  ministers  of  state,  as  well  as  of  reli- 
gion!    He  told  the  king  honestly  the  whole  truth,  and 
was  not  afraid.     ISTor  did  he  make   any  apology.     His 
duty  was  a  painful  one,  but  honestly  and  faithfully  did 
he  execute  his  trust.     If  what  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
preach  be  not  true,  no  apology  can  palliate  it;  if  it  be 
true,  no  excuse  is  valid  for  not  preaching  it,  and,  conse- 
quently, no  apology  is  required.     It  cannot  afford  them 
pleasure  to  bear  evil  tidings  to  their  people  ;  yet,  as  they 
watch  for  souls,  they  must  declare  the  whole  counsel  of 
God,  whether  the  people  will  hear  or  forbear.     Our  con- 
gregations are  always   composed  of  two  classes — those 
that  are  sinners  by  nature,  and  still  impenitent  and  dis- 
obedient ;   and  those  that  are  penitent  and  believing. 
This  is  the  only  division  that  will  be  known  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat.    And  though  we  have  not  the  spirit  of  Daniel, 
yet  we  must  say  to  you  who  are  living  in  sin,  and  dis- 
obedient to  the  calls  of  the  Gospel,  0  that  the  dream  were 
to  them  that  hate  thee,  and  tJie  interpretation  thereof  to 
thine  enemies.     Long  have  you  stood  as  a  fair  tree  in  the 
vineyard,   but  fruitless.     "And   I  saw,   and  behold   a 
watcher  and  a  holy  one  came  down  from  heaven,  and 
cried,  Hew  down  the  tree."     "  Cut  it  down,  why  cum- 
bereth  it  the  ground  %n     But,  O  Lord,  may  it  not  stand 
another  year !     May  not  this  impenitent  sinner  live  till 
after  the  next  communion  season,  and  we  will  dig  about 


200  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  roots,  and  see  if  it  will  not  bear  fruit ;  we  will  plead, 
O  Lord !  we  will  agonize  and  urge  sinners  to  be  reconciled 
to  Thee.  O  that  you  were  wise — that  you  would  now 
consider  your  latter  end,  and  accept  of  salvation  while 
the  golden  sceptre  is  held  out.    Amen. 


.» 


SUMMARY  OF  LAST  LECTURES.  201' 


LECTUEE  X. 

god's  universal  sceptre  ;  or,  Nebuchadnezzar  preaching 

TO  YOUNG  MEN  ABOUT  GOd's  ABSOLUTE  DOMINION  OVER  THE 
WORLD. 

On  Dan.,  iv.,  ],  3,  17,  25,  34,  35. 

Nebuchadnezzar's  Conversion. — Liberty  of  Conscience. — Heavens  do  rule. —  Or- 
igin of  Sin  considered.-r-Bible  alone  not  responsible. — Believer's  Advantages 
over  the  Skep'ic. —  One  Sinner  God's  Executioner  on  another. — Analogy  shows 
that  Objections  to  God's  Government  are  not  valid. — This  World  a  State  of 
Trial.— Eternity  a  Retribution.— The  Righteous  and  Wicked  separated.— 
Their  distinct  Destinies. — Facts  which  show  that  the  Heavens  do  rule, 

LESSONS. 
I.  Never  out  op  God's  Jurisdiction. 

II.  GrOD'S  ABSOLUTE  SOVEREIGN TY  SHOULD  TEACH  YOU  TO  TAKE  A  WIDE 
AND  FAR-SEEING  VIEW  OP  YOUR  RELATIONS  AND  OBLIGATIONS. 

III.  Look  at  your  every-day  Conduct  in  the  light  of  all  its  Bear- 
ings. 

IV.  Never  despair  op  Progress,  either  personal  or  of  Mankind. 

In  the  preceding  discourses  of  this  series,  the  language 
and  figures  of  speech  used  in  the  king's  proclamation  have 
been  explained,  objections  answered,  and  various  impor- 
tant lessons  drawn  for  the  instruction,  warning,  and  en- 
couragement of  young  men.  Josephus  and  other  ancient 
writers  have  been  consulted,  and  collateral  history,  and 
the  recent  discoveries  and  decipherings  of  the  inscriptions 
of  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  have  been  referred  to  as  coin- 
cidental proof  of  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the 
book  of  Daniel,  and  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  edict.  In  the 
present  discourse  our  object  is  to  explain,  defend,  and 


^P|$ 


202  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

apply  the  doctrine  set  forth  in  the  king's  edict  concerning 

THE  UNIVERSAL  SCEPTRE  AND  DOMINON  OF  GoD.      The  tree  in 

the  king's  dream  symbolized  himself.  Daniel  gave  him 
a  faithful  interpretation  thereof,  and  called  upon  him  to 
avert  the  threatened  calamity,  by  ceasing  to  do  evil  and 
learning  to  do  well ;  but  Nebuchadnezzar  would  not  learn 
his  lesson  till  the  punishment  threatened  was  actually 
inflicted.  Afterward,  when  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  heaven, 
and  his  understanding  returned  unto  him,  the  king  sent 
forth  his  proclamation,  which  contained,  as  we  have  seen, 
many  things  to  us  deeply  interesting,  appropriate,  and 
suggestive.     The  points  to  be  presented  now  are : 

I.  The  result,  in  the  'king's  own  mind,  of  the  conviction 
that  God  is  the  absolute  Sovereign  of  the  universe.  The 
dream,  its  interpretation  and  fulfillment,  evidently  pro- 
duced a  great  change  in  his  mind.  The  evidences  of  his 
Ae  and  actual  conversion,  at  which  we  have  hinted  be- 
fore, are  two :  first,  his  deep  humility,  self-abasement,  and 
gratitude  to  God.  The  punishment  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  such  as  was  due  to  his  pride.  It  was  suited  to  his 
crimes,  and  he  acknowledges  God's  justice  in  punishing 
him  for  his  sins,  and  gives  Him  the  glory.  This  proves 
that  he  felt  sin  to  be  a  grievous  thing,  and  that  he  was 
truly  sorry  for  his  sins,  and  now  rejoiced  in  the  humble 
assurance  of  their  forgiveness;  and  therefore  his  heart 
blessed  God,  and  pronounced  benedictions  on  all  man- 
kind. The  substance  of  his  proclamation  unto  all  people, 
and  nations,  and  languages  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  was 
"  Peace  be  multiplied  to  you."  And  the  ground  of  this 
proclamation  was  that  he  might  show  "  the  signs  and  the 
wonders  that  the  high  God" — not  his  idol  Bel,  whose 


EVIDENCES  OP  HIS  CONVERSION.  203 

praises  he  had  sung  before,  but,  "that  the  high  God  hath 
wrought  toward  him." 

Now  what  are  the  evidences  of  genuine  conversion  to 
God  ?  Are  they  not  humility,  deep  penitence  for  sin,  an 
acknowledgment  of  God's  just  judgment  and  deserved 
wrath  for  sin,  an  humble  hope  of  divine  forgiveness,  and 
a  heart  flowing  with  gratitude  to  God  and  good-will  to- 
ward man?  These  seem  to  have  been  the  effects  pro- 
duced in  the  king's  mind  by  his  dream  and  its  fulfillment. 
The  haughty  monarch  seems  to  have  been  altogether 
changed.  Instead  of  war,  he  now  proclaims  peace.  The 
hand  that  had  been  stretched  forth  with  the  sword  from 
the  Indus  to  the  Hellespont,  now  pours  forth  benedictions. 
The  lion  has  become  a  lamb.  He  that  blasphemed  and 
defied  God,  now  submits  and  owns  his  power  and  justice, 
and  prays  that  all  nations  may  own  him  as  God.  Another 
and  second  proof  of  his  conversion  is  the  missionary  feel- 
ing of  his  proclamation.  One  of  the  proofs  of  a  suitable 
state  of  mind  for  becoming  a  member  of  the  Church  is 
that,  "  feeling  a  strong  desire  for  the  conversion  of  all 
mankind,  you  promise  to  do  all  you  can  to  sustain  the 
institutions  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  aim  at  increasing  holi- 
ness of  heart  and  life,  and  that  you  will  constantly  en- 
deavor to  do  all  in  your  power  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  your  fellow-men."  Nebuchadnezzar's  pro- 
clamation breathes  this  spirit.  He  seems  to  say,  as  David 
had  done  before  him,  "  Come,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and 
I  will  make  known  to  you  what  he  hath  done  for  my 
soul."  So  the  King  of  Babylon  says,  "  I  have  seen  the 
greatness,  glory,  and  terrible  majesty  of  Jehovah ;  I  have 
tasted  of  his  goodness.     It  is  now  my  wish  that  all  the 


OQ4  LECTURES  OX  DANIEL. 

p>eople  in  my  vast  realm  should  see,  and  know,  and  learn 
that  the  God  whom  I  now  fear  is  not  the  great  golden 
image  that  I  once  set  up  in  the  plain  of  Dura  ;  but  that 
the  God  I  now  worship  is  Jehovah,  the  only  true  and 
living  God,  who  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and 
whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom." 

The  remark  has  been  happily  made  in  reference  to  some 
of  the  able  addresses  recently  delivered  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  on  the  liberty  of  conscience  in  foreign 
countries,  that  some  of  our  greatest  men  had  turned 
preachers,  and  made  their  desk  in  the  Senate  Chamber  a 
pulpit.  Thank  God  for  this  !  And  we  hope  the  persecu- 
tions of  the  poor  Madiai,  for  no  other  crime  than  that  of 
reading  the  Bible,  and  the  grievous  annoyances  of  Ameri- 
can travelers  and  residents  abroad  about  their  private 
books  of  devotion  and  religious  opinions,  will  never  cease 
to  stir  the  hearts  of  our  statesmen  until  that  toleration  of 
religious  opinion  in  other  countries  is  secured  for  Ameri- 
can citizens  that  is  freely  granted  to  all  religions  on  earth 
in  our  own  country.  It  is,  brethren,  indeed  wonderful  to 
see  what  grace  can  do — wonderful  to  see  how  Saul  of 
Tarsus  became  Paul  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  Wonder- 
ful transformations  of  character  are  made  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  even  in  our  day.  The  same  grace  that  changed 
the  heart  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  and  saved  the  penitent  thief 
on  the  cross  can  save  the  vilest  of  our  race.  The  grace 
of  God,  like  the  air  of  heaven,  can  enter  the  smallest 
hovel  and  the  loftiest  palace.  It  has,  and  it  can,  and  it 
will  still  find  its  way  into  Congresses,  into  Divans  and 
Cabinets,  and  to  the  thrones  of  empires.  "  It  will  find  its 
way  into  the  temples  of  Bramah,  into  the  mosques  of 


TURKISH  TRADITIONS.  205 

Islam,  and  into  the  cathedrals  of  Romanism."  There  is 
a  tradition  among  the  Turks  in  the  East,  that  as  their 
mosques  were  once  Christian  churches,  so  they  will  again 
become  Christian  temples.  May  this  day  speedily  come! 
The  Babylonian  throne  was  once  turned  into  a  Christian 
pulpit.  Its  mighty  monarch  himself  became  a  humble 
and  faithful  missionary,  and  his  royal  edict  an  epistle,  a 
sermon  eloquent  of  the  wonders  of  God's  supremacy  and 
sovereignty,  both  in  providence  and  grace — and  of  righte- 
ousness and  peace.  O  how  much  should  we  all  rejoice 
in  the  apostle's  great  announcement!  It  is  a  faithful 
saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  even  the  chief. 

II.  Let  us  now,  in  the  second  place,  consider  the  king's 
acknowledgment  that  the  heavens  do  rule — to  the  intent 
that  the  living  may  know  that  the  Most  High  ruleth  in 
the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whomsoever  he  will, 
and  setteth  up  over  it  tlie  hasest  of  men.     I  desire  the  more 
to  dwell  on  the  absolute  dominion  of  God  over  the  affairs 
of  the  world,  and  of  every  creature  in  the  world,  because 
it  is  a  subject  of  great  practical  importance  to  young  men, 
and  at  the  same  time  it  is  a  subject  about  which  there  is 
much  practical  skepticism,  even  where  there  is  no  avowed 
disbelief.     There  are  also  some  honest  difficulties  which  I 
hope  may  be  explained  or  removed.     There  seems  to  be 
in  the  unconverted  heart  a  proneness  at  all  ages,  and  es- 
pecially a  strong  tendency  in  our  times  to  rebel  against 
the  sovereignty  of  God.    As  unconverted  men  do  not  like 
to  retain  God  in  their  thoughts,  so  they  are  disposed  to  dis- 
pute the  ever-present,  ever-active  supremacy  of  a  living, 
personal  Deity.    The  only  great  first  cause  they  acknow- 


206  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

ledge  is  an  abstract  principle,  or  an  impersonal,  apathetic, 
far-removed  God,  who  now  takes  no  notice  of  earthly 
things.  Many  admit  that  there  was  an  active  Creator  at 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  who  seem  to  deny  or  have  a 
very  faint  belief  that  there  is  a  God,  ruling  still  in  the 
heavens  and  over  the  affairs  of  men.  Divested  of  its 
poetry,  its  dreamy  generalities,  and  its  philosophizing 
essays  and  literature,  the  system  of  many  seems  to  be 
this  :  that  God  created  the  world,  set  its  vast  machinery 
going,  and  wound  it  up  a  few  times  to  see  that  it  would 
all  work  well,  and  then  wound  it  up  so  as  to  run  for  many 
years,  and  retired  from  it ;  and  that,  consequently,  acci- 
dents have  been  continually  occurring  ever  since,  and  that 
second  causes  are  now  ruling,  and  will  finally  overthrow 
the  existing  economy  of  all  things.  It  is  on  this  sort  of  a 
theory  that  unbelievers  try  to  explain  the  origin  of  moral 
evil.  In  answer  to  which,  and  in  explanation  and  defense 
of  the  doctrine  set  forth  in  the  king's  proclamation,  our 
first  remark  is : 

That  the  question  of  the  origin  of  moral  evil,  like  the 
existence  of  God,  is  known,  absolutely  known  as  a  fact, 
without  our  being  able  to  comprehend  its  ?node  or  manner 
of  existence.  There  are  many  things  admitted  to  actually 
exist,  the  how  or  manner  of  whose  existence  and  essence 
we  are  not  able  to  explain.  Gravitation,  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  digestion,  the  growth  of  animals  and  vege- 
tables, the  human  soiil  and  its  connection  with  the  body, 
and  the  existence  of  God,  are  all  mysteries.  These  are 
all  realities,  not  all  indeed  equally  mysterious,  but  all  in- 
volving many  points  which  cannot  be  explained  at  pre- 
sent.    Many  of  the  greatest  minds  in  the  Old  as  well  as 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  THE  SKEPTIC.  207 

in  the  New,  in  the  Oriental  as  well  as  in  the  Western 
"World,  have  labored  hard  to  solve  the  problem  of  the 
origin  of  moral  evil ;  but  no  satisfactory  solution  has  been 
found  beyond  the  facts  revealed  in  the  Bible.     All  admit 
that  sin  is  now  in  the  world.     How  can  we  reconcile  its 
entrance  here  with  the  supreme  government  of  God  ? 
"Why  should  a  wise,  merciful,  omnipotent  Being  allow 
such  an  intruder  as  sin  to  come  into  our  world  and  pro- 
duce apostasy,  rebellion,  and  discord  ?    But,  first,  young 
men,  remember  the  Bible  is  not  responsible  for  the  solu- 
tion of  this  serious  question.     The  entrance  of  sin  into  our 
world,  "  which  brought  death  and  all  our  woe,"  is  not  a 
disclosure  peculiar  to  the  Bible.     It  is  a  disclosure  of  fact, 
of  human  experience  and  observation,  of  geology  and  of 
universal  history.     The  skeptic  as  well  as  the  Christian 
is  called  upon  to  explain  why  sin  is  in  the  world.     The 
historian,  the  geologist,  the  philosopher,  as  well  as  the 
Christian,  admit  the  existence  and  the  reign  of  a  God — ■ 
admit  as  a  fact  the  presence  and  the  disturbing  power  of 
sin — that  it  is  on  account  of  sin  that  we  see  darkness,  and 
degradation,  and  guilt,  where  we  should  see  knowledge, 
righteousness,  and  holiness.     If  there  be  a  difficulty,  then, 
on  this  subject,  it  is  a  difficulty  at  :he  door  of  the  skeptic 
himself,  as  broad  and  as  palpable  as  at  the  door  of  a  Bible 
Christian.     By  denying  the  truth  of  revelation  and  re- 
jecting the  Gospel  of  Christ,  we  cannot,  therefore,  get 
rid  of  this  difficulty  ;  it  still  remains  in  all  its  force.     But, 
secondly,  the  Bible  believer  has  an  advantage  over  the 
mere  geologist,  historian,  or  skeptical  philosopher.     He 
can  look  at  the  entrance  and  reign  of  sin  in  such  a  light 
as  to  see  that  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  Divine  Being  that 


208  '  LECTURES  ON  PANIEL. 

sin  is  in  the  world.  His  faith  is  a  telescope  that  reveals 
to  him  such  distant  worlds,  and  the  remote,  but  still 
closely  united  links  of  the  long  chain  of  Providence,  that 
he  sees  God  supreme  and  yet  just,  merciful,  omnipotent, 
and  good.  His  faith  takes  in  the  end  with  the  beginning, 
and  shows  him  that  all  God's  ways  are  perfect.  The 
Bible  believer  sees  that  God  made  man  in  his  own  image 
and  after  his  own  likeness,  perfectly  free  and  unfettered, 
with  every  bias  to  good,  and  with  no  bias  to  evil — with 
every  inducement  to  retain  his  allegiance — with  every 
possible  dissuasion  against  apostasy — able  to  stand,  but 
free  to  fall.  He  gave  him  a  heart  to  love— He  gave  him 
a  conscience,  and  placed  him  under  law.  This  was  essen- 
tial, as  man  was  a  creature.  His  Creator  was  of  course 
the  lawgiver,  and  when  God  placed  Adam  under  law,  He 
might,  speaking  with  reverence,  by  his  omnipotence  have 
prevented  him  from  touching  the  forbidden  fruit.  He 
might  have  struck  Ere  dead  the  moment  she  ate,  and 
have  prevented  her  from  giving  the  apple,  or  whatever  it 
was,  to  Adam ;  but  it  surely  does  not  follow,  because  the 
Almighty  could  have  thus  prevented  man  from  sinning, 
that  it  was  best  for  Him  to  have  done  so,  or  that  he  ought 
thus  to  have  prevented  him  from  sinning.  To  have  done 
this  would  have  been  to  destroy  human  agency,  and  to 
have  annihilated  human  virtue.  The  order  of  the  human 
mind  would  then  hate  been  changed,  and  man  become 
no  more  than  an  animal  or  a  stone.     But, 

Thirdly.  The  Bible  believer  has  such  a  wide  sweep 
before  him,  so  magnificent  is  the  field  of  his  vision,  that 
he   sees  grander  and  more  magnificent  results   to   be 


MAN  CREATED  A  FREE  AGENT.  209 

evolved  from  the  wrecks  of  paradise  than  ever  could  have 
been  reflected  from  it  in  its  pristine  glory. 

"  God,  in  the  person  of  his  Son, 
Hath  all  his  mightiest  works  outdone." 

It  is  impossible  to  sustain  the  argument,  that  because 
God  was  able  to  have  prevented  the  entrance  of  sin  into 
the  world,  therefore  he  ought  to  have  done  so.  You  have 
the  power  to  burn  up  this  city,  or  to  throw  yourself  into 
the  sea,  but  you  need  not  be  told  that  your  possession  of 
such  power  does  not  make  it  right  for  you  to  do  so.  The 
Almighty,  by  the  exercise  of  omnipotence,  might  Have 
rendered  it  impossible  for  man  to  have  sinned ;  but  then 
this  very  impossibility  would  have  made  man  a  mere 
automaton — a  piece  of  machinery,  moved  by  extraneous 
impulses,  without  a  will  to  determine,  a  conscience  to 
feel,  or  a  judgment  to  reflect.  To  use  another's  illustra- 
tion of  this  matter :  if  a  man  goes  to  put  his  hand  into  the 
Are,  God  tells  that  man,  by  the  experience  of  others,  and 
by  the  exercise  of  his  reason,  "If  you  put  your  hand  into 
the  fire  you  will  burn  it,  and  suffer  pain."  This  is  the 
plan  which  God  adopts  to  keep  a  man  from  burning  his 
hand.  He  might,  speaking  with  reverence,  have  taken 
some  other  method.  He  might,  by  the  mere  fiat  of  omni- 
potence, render  it  a  physical  impossibility  for  a  man  to 
burn  his  hand.  But  he  does  not  do  so.  He  shows  a  man 
that  if  he  puts  his  hand  into  the  fire,  such  are  His  laws, 
that  his  hand  is  sure  to  be  burned.  And  it  was  just  in 
this  way  God  dealt  with  Adam  in  Paradise.  He  did  not 
draw  back  Adam's  hand   from  touching  the  forbidden 

fruit ;  but  he  told  him  that  if  he  ate  that  fruit,  death  and 

H 


210  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

woe  would  be  the  inevitable  consequences.  He  said  to 
him>  You  are  a  free  and  responsible  being ;  it  rests  with 
yourself  to  abstain  and  live  forever,  or  to  touch  it  and 
perish.  In  defending,  therefore,  the  doctrine  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar's edict,  which  is  the  doctrine  of  the  whole 
Bible,  "  we  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  to  man,"  and  show 
that  permitting  sin,  not  the  sending  of  it,  not  the  becom- 
ing the  author  of  it,  is  the  only  way  that  God  could  have 
treated  man  as  a  rational  and  responsible  being ;  and  as 
far  as  we  can  see,  or  comprehend  human  nature  at  all, 
there  was  no  other  way  to  have  treated  man  in  consis- 
tency with  the  dignity  of  his  nature,  which  would,  at  the 
same  time,  have  been  consistent  with  the  wisdom,  the 
benevolence,  the  holiness,  and  the  justice  of  Him  who 
rules  in  the  heavens. 

III.  The  history  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  drawn  by  the 
Hebrew  prophets,  presents  another  difficulty  in  regard 
to  the  ruling  of  the  heavens,  and  that  is  this :  that  one 
sinner  is  often  made  the  executioner  of  divine  judgments 
upon  another.  This  is  true.  Cyrus  was  employed  to  ex- 
ecute j  udgment  upon  Babylon .  Nebuchadnezzar  himself 
was  employed  to  execute  judgment  on  Nineveh,  and  on 
Tyre,  and  on  the  other  wTicked  nations  of  Syria.  It  is 
expressly  said  in  Isaiah  that  God  would  give  Egypt  to 
Nebuchadnezzar  as  his  wages  for  his  services  in  conquer- 
ing Tyre.  God  himself  says,  "  O  Assyrian,  thou  art  the 
rod  of  mine  anger ;  I  will  send  thee  against  an  hypocrit- 
ical nation,  against  the  people  of  my  wrath  will  I  give 
thee  a  charge,  to  take  the  spoil  and  to  take  the  prey,  and 
to  tread  them  down  as  the  mire  in  the  streets."  The 
prophet  tells  us  that  God  put  a  hook  in  his  nose  and  led 


GOD'S  EXECUTIONERS.— NAPOLEON.  211 

him  whithersoever  he  would.  It  is  not  only  the  teaching 
of  the  Bible,  but  it  is  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  every 
nation,  and  almost  of  every  individual,  that  one  wicked 
man  is  made  the  instrument  of  punishing  another,  and 
that  often  a  man's  own  sins  are  the  executioners  of  their 
own  curses.  The  Roman  sword,  in  the  hands  of  Titus  and 
Yespasian,  punished  the  gross  transgressions  of  God's 
own  people,  as  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  had  done 
ages  before.  [Napoleon  the  Great  was  not  a  saint  in  all 
his  motives  and  plans,  yet  he  was  an  instrument  in  the 
hand  of  God  to  punish  the  sins  of  profligate  Europe,  just 
as  his  successor,  Napoleon  III.,  may  be  in  our  day.  The 
moral  character  of  the  agents  of  Providence  are  not  al- 
ways such  as  God  accepts.  His  agents  are  sometimes 
winds  and  flames,  earthquakes  and  wars,  pestilence  and 
plague.  The  personal  salvation  of  the  men  employed  by 
divine  Providence  for  great  national  or  political  events  is 
not  necessarily  embraced  in  their  mission ;  that  depends 
altogether  upon  their  obedience  to  God.  The  agency  of 
wicked  men  in  carrying  on  the  purposes  of  God  is  un- 
designed, and  therefore  not  meritorious.  He  maketh  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath 
he  restraineth.  And  may  it  not  be  that  God  makes  one 
sinful  man  or  one  wicked  nation  execute  his  judgment 
upon  another  sinful  man  or  upon  another  wTicked  nation, 
rather  than  inflict  the  punishment  by  his  own  hand,  in 
order  that  incorrigible  sinners  may  know  that  it  is  vain 
to  rely  upon  one  another  for  support  in  their  rebellion 
against  Him,  or  to  hope  to  escape  his  wrath  by  their 
united  strength  ?  There  is  not,  and  there  cannot  be  any 
conspiracy  of  wicked  men  against  God,  however  secret, 


212  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

or  however  great,  powerful,  and  wide-spread  may  be  their 
dominions  and  the  ramifications  of  their  power,  without 
having  the  elements  of  its  own  disorganization,  decay,  and 
destruction  within  itself.  If  all  the  wicked  men  in  the 
world  were  arrayed  in  a  conspiracy  against  the  cause  and 
kingdom  of  Christ,  it  could  not  last.  The  elements  of 
disorganization  and  ruin  are  essentially  combined  in  all 
such  unions.  The  leagues  and  covenants,  and  tripartite 
and  quintuple  holy  alliances  of  the  despots  of  Europe, 
cannot  last ;  nor  can  all  the  guns  and  bayonets  that  can 
be  manufactured  in  all  the  shops  in  Christendom  make 
them  enduring.  They  will  quarrel  among  themselves. 
It  is  as  easy  for  God  to  confound  their  interpretations  of 
treaties  as  it  was  for  Him  to  confound  the  tongues  of  the 
builders  of  Babel.  It  is  as  easy  for  the  Almighty  to  bring 
to  naught  the  counsels  of  Metternich,  and  annihilate  the 
armies  of  Austria,  as  it  was  for  him  to  confound  the  wis- 
dom of  Ahithophel,  and  destroy  the  army  of  Sennacherib. 
The  same  God  is  on  the  throne  now.  Small,  obscure, 
and  unexpected  causes  concurred  in  producing  the  Revo- 
lutions of  1782  and  of  1848.  The  downfall  of  kingdoms 
has  generally  come  from  sources  but  little  anticipated. 
It  is  easy  for  God  to  light  a  spark  that  shall  cause  all 
Europe  to  blaze  in  war  from  the  North  Pole  to  the  Medit- 
erranean. It  is  easy  for  Him  who  ruleth  in  the  heavens, 
and  giveth  dominion  to  whomsoever  he  will,  and  setteth 
over  empires  sometimes  the  basest  of  men,  to  make  one 
conspirator  rise  against  another,  and  make  the  very 
means — the  priesthood,  army,  and  fortifications  of  a  king 
— designed  for  his  protection  the  very  instrument  of  his 
overthrow.     Ham  an  is  often  hanged  on  his  own  gallow* 


NATURE,  NOT  THE  BIBLE,  RESPONSIBLE.  213 

IT.  Again,  it  is  said,  If  it  be  true,  as  Nebuchadnezzar 
asserts  in  his  proclamation,  that  God  doeth  according  to 
his  will  in  the  armies  of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  earth,  and  none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto 
him,  "  What  doest  thou  ?"  how  is  it  that  one  generation 
suffers  for  the  sins  of  former  generations  t  The  same 
answer  in  part  that  has  just  been  given  may  be  made  to 
this  objection.  It  is  true  that  one  generation  does  suffer 
for  the  sins  of  former  generations,  and  it  is  true  that  God 
lives  and  reigns.  The  Bible,  then,  is  not  responsible  for 
the  solution  of  this  difficulty.  The  Bible  Christian  is  not 
alone  in  this  matter.  The  chronicles  of  all  ages  and  of  all 
lands  have  legible  records  of  the  .fact,  that  children  for 
several  generations  suffer  the  consequences  of  the  sins  of 
their  parents.  The  constitution  of  the  universe  and  of 
human  nature  then,  and  not  the  Bible,  is  responsible  for 
this  difficulty.  It  is  one  you  cannot  escape.  Whether 
with  or  without  the  Gospel,  you  must  meet  it.  We  prefer 
to  explain  it  with  the  help  of  the  Word  of  God ;  and  as 
before,  so  here,  the  believer's  view  of*  the  constitution  of 
the  universe,  and  of  human  nature,  is  far  higher,  more 
hopeful  and  consoling  than  that  of  the  unbeliever.  The 
Bible  view  of  this  subject  teaches  us  lessons  of  the  great- 
est practical  value.  Does  not  the  very  fact  that  children 
suffer  for  their  parents'  dissipation,  profligacy,  and  im- 
providence, teach  us  that  we  have  an  interest  in  the  well- 
being  of  all  around  us,  and  cannot  escape  from  the  re- 
sponsibility of  exerting  an  influence  on  the  ages  that  are 
to  come  after  us  ?  Are  we  not  thus  palpably  taught  that 
we  are  morally  as  well  as  physically  related  to  all  man- 
kind, and  bound  by  the  laws  of  the  great  Creator  himself 


214  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

not  to  live  for  ourselves,  but  for  the  good  of  our  fellow- 
men  ?  Does  not  the  fact  that  children's  children  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generation  suffer  in  their  bodies,  minds, 
and  character,  for  the  vices  of  their  parents,  constitute  a 
most  pressing  and  powerful  argument  to  induce  you  to 
live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  %  And  thus  a  more 
sober,  philosophical,  and  correct  view  of  this  matter 
shows  you  that  what  at  first  seemed  to  be  a  hardship  is 
really  a  mercy,  fitted  to  arouse  all  your  feelings  against 
sin,  and  to  lead  you  by  the  deepest  instincts  of  your  na- 
ture to  guard  against  such  sins  as  will  not  only  ruin  your 
own  bodies  and  souls,  but  transmit  suffering,  and  pain, 
and  tribulation  to  the  distant  generations  of  your  des- 
cendants. 

And  as  to  the  removal  by  death  of  parents  from  their 
children,  and  of  children  from  their  parents,  the  whole 
difficulty  does  not  rest  with  the  Bible  Christian.  The 
facts  lie  as  palpably  at  the  door  of  the  skeptic  as  they  do 
at  his.  But  here  again,  as  before,  the  Bible  Christian  has 
sources  of  reflection,  comfort,  and  hope  that  the  infidel 
has  not,  and  cannot  have.  Revelation  comes  in  to  his 
relief,  and  teaches  much  that  reason  could  not  disclose. 
The  Christian  sorrows  not  as  the  heathen.  He  finds 
lessons  in  the  providential  dispensations  of  God,  that 
elevate  his  affections  and  make  him  happy  here,  and  pre- 
pare him  for  glory  and  immortality  hereafter.  In  the 
fact  that  infants,  though  free  from  actual  transgressions, 
do  die,  the  enlightened  faith  of  the  Christian  says  there 
may  not  only  not  be  any  thing  inconsistent  with  the 
universal  sceptre  of  God,  but  there  is  that  which  emi- 
nently makes  his  reign  palpable.     Does  not  the  babe  die 


CONSOLATION  FOR  DYING-  INFANTS.  215 

to  teach  us  that  original  sin  is  an  actual  thing,  and  to 
prove  what  geology  and  philosophy  teach,  that  some  ter- 
rible disaster  has  fallen  upon,  mankind,  which  blights  the 
flower  that  has  just  budded  and  bloomed  to-day,  and 
smites  down  the  aged  man  of  fourscore  years  ?  Does  not 
Revelation  teach  wl^at  heathen  sages  have  said — those 
whom  the  gods  love  die  early,  in  order  that  they  may 
escape  from  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world ;  and  as  all  who 
die  in  infancy  are  saved,  are  not  our  little  ones  taken 
from  us  to  become  missionaries  to  draw  us  to  heaven? 
In  the  day  of  eternity  it  will  doubtless  be  found  that 
many  parents  are  saved  through  the  death  of  their  little 
ones. 

V.  There  are  other  difficulties  that  might  be  dwelt  on, 
but  only  a  few  words  can  now  be  said  in  relation  to 
them.  That  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  speedily 
executed  ;  that  vice  and  fraud  are  sometimes  prosperous, 
while  the  good  and  pious  are  poor  and  persecuted ;  and 
that  sometimes  wicked  men  live  to  be  very  old,  while 
pious  and  eminently  useful  men  die  at  an  early  age,  are 
facts.  The  Bible  tells  us  that  it  has  been  so,  and  that  it 
will  continue  to  be  so ;  and  the  Bible  tells  us  also  that 
these  things  sometimes  troubled  Old  Testament  saints,  but 
that  when  they  went  to  the  house  of  God,  and  considered 
all,  and  took  into  the  account  the  awful  end  of  wicked 
men,  they  were  satisfied  that  God  did  all  things  well,  and 
that  even  on  these  points  the  heavens  not  only  rule,  but 
rule  in  righteousness  and  goodness.  This  world  is  not  the 
state  of  absolute  justice  ;  this  world  is  only  a  place  of  trial 
and  probation.  The  world  to  come  is  the  world  of  retri- 
bution.    In  hell  the  wicked  all  suffer,  and  in  heaven  all 


216  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  righteous  are  happy.  There  are  degrees  in  both  future 
rewards  and  punishments,  but  there  is  no  mixture  in  either 
heaven  or  hell.  There  is  in  the  world  to  come  a  perfect 
separation  of  the  righteous  from  the  wicked.  Here  the 
wicked  and  the  righteous  are  mingled  together,  and  parti- 
cipate together  in  the  vicissitudes  of  earth,  but  in  eternity 
they  are  separated  and  rewarded  according  to  their  works. 
If  all  good  men  were  rewarded  on  earth,  then  we  should 
live  not  by  faith,  but  by  sight,  and  all  men  would  become, 
nominally,  at  least,  believers  in  Christ,  for  the  sake  of 
worldly  prosperity ;  and  if  all  pious  men  suffered  on  earth, 
then  to  become  a  Christian  would  be  to  become  a  martyr, 
and  this  would  be  an  objection  to  the  profession  of  faith 
in  Christ.  It  is  far  better,  then,  for  things  to  be  just  as 
they  are — namely,  that  the  tares  and  the  wheat  should 
grow  together  in  the  same  field  till  the  harvest.  And 
such  are  the  necessary  relations  of  society,  and  such  the 
nature  of  moral  goodness  and  of  Christian  virtues,  that 
whenever  the  effort  is  made  to  separate  them  now,  it  ends 
in  the  injury  of  the  wheat.  The  mingling  together  of  the 
wicked  and  of  the  pious,  and  the  present  prosperity  of  the 
wicked  and  the  temporary  afflictions  of  the  people  of  Godr 
are  calculated  to  fasten  our  faith  upon  God,  and  to  show 
us  that  we  are  to  be  saved  by  grace.  And  after  all,  who 
can  show  us  that  it  is  not  far  better  for  the  pious  to  be 
afflicted  just  as  they  are  ?  What  if  Voltaire  did  live  to 
be  eighty  years  of  age,  and  Thomas  Paine  to  be  an  old 
man  and  die  a  drunken  sot  I"  It  is  only  the  worse  for 
them.  If  Enoch  is  translated  to  heaven,  it  is  because  he 
walked  with  God.  If  a  pious  man  dies  early,  it  is  because 
his  work  on  earth  is  finished,  and  is  pleasing  to  God  and 


FACTS  PROVING  GOD'S  SOVEREIGNTY.  217 

accepted  of  him.  "Whatever  is  taken  off  from  a  good 
man's  days  on  earth  is  added  to  his  existence  in  heaven, 
and  he  is  abundantly  satisfied. 

VI.  There  are  some  positive  facts  which  prove  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  is  correct  when  he  says  the  "  heavens  do 
rule,"  and  that  the  reigning  of  the  heavens  is  wise  and 
good,  merciful  and  gracious.  The  first  fact  now  to  be 
stated  is,  that  it  is  natural  to  expect  God  to  govern  the 
world.  It  would  be  unnatural  for  him  to  leave  all  his 
creatures  orphans.  The  presence  of  fixed  permanent  laws 
in  every  department  of  nature  proves  that  He  has  not  so 
left  them.  The  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  the  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  and  the  revolutions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  show  that  He  is  supreme  in  nature. 

2.  The  perfections  of  God  prove  that  He  must  still  gov- 
ern the  universe.  His  wisdom  is  infinite.  All  that  God 
does  is,  therefore,  infinitely  perfect.  As  we  have  said, 
his  laws  prove  his  presence.  By  them  he  reigns  in  the 
atom  as  well  as  in  the  fixed  star.  He  rides  on  the  tiny 
breeze  as  upon  the  whirlwind.  The  sweet  odors  of  the 
spring,  as  wTell  as  the  thundering  avalanche,  are  but  pal- 
pable manifestations  of  His  presence.  But  infinite  wis- 
dom is  not  the  only  attribute  of  God.  His  goodness  also 
is  infinite.  He  so  loved  the  world,  not  only  as  to  permit, 
but  actually  to  send — to  give  his  son  to  die  for  the  world. 
The  Bible  does  not  teach  that  God  loves  us  because  Christ 
has  died  for  us,  but  that  Christ  died  for  us  because  God  so 
loved  us.  And  if  God  gave  his  Son  for  us,  how  much 
more  will  he  give  us  all  things  else  needful  ? 

And  all  the  more  so,  because  He  who  governs  the 
world  is  omnipotent.     "Whatever,  therefore,  His  wisdom 


218  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

devises,  or  His  love  inspires,  His  power  will  execute.  It 
is  impossible,  then,  for  any  error,  mistake,  or  failure  to 
occur  in  God's  government  of  the  world.  All  history  and 
experience  confirm  the  Psalmist's  words,  where  he  says, 
"  O  Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  a  strong  Lord  like  unto  thee,  or 
to  thy  faithfulness  round  about  thee  ?  Thou  rulest  the 
raging  of  the  sea ;  when  the  waves  thereof  arise,  thou 
stillest  them.  Justice  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of 
thy  throne  ;  mercy  and  truth  shall  go  before  thy  face." 

3.  A  third  source  of  argument,  which  I  cannot  now 
present,  in  favor  of  a  particular  and  universal  providence, 
is  the  plain  teaching  of  the  Bible  on  the  subject.  You 
are  already  familiar  with  many  such  proof-texts. 

Finally.  Let  us  attend  to  the  lessons  of  this  subject. 
I  am  fully  persuaded  there  is  no  fact  in  history,  or  in  na- 
ture, or  in  human  experience,  that  can  be  shown  fairly  to 
be  in  conflict  with  the  ruling  of  the  heavens,  but  that  a 
proper  consideration  of  all  the  facts  in  nature,  human  ex- 
perience, and  history,  establishes  the  doctrine  set  forth  in 
the  proclamation  of  the  King  of  Babylon — that  God's  do- 
minion is  particular,  and  absolute,  and  universal  over  the 
affairs  of  the  world,  and  over  the  affairs  of  every  creature 
in  the  world.  But  what  have  young  men  to  do  with  the 
absolute,  general,  and  particular  providence  of  God  ?  A 
great  deal,  a  very  great  deal. 

First.  Ever  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  an  accident  in  the  true  sense  of  that  term.  You  are 
always  and  every  where  within  the  jurisdiction  of  God. 
You  cannot  escape  His  presence,  nor  hide  yourself  from 
the  search-warrant  of  His  laws.  The  laws  which  he  has 
given  to  the  elements  and  imprinted  on  your  own  soul, 


NO  ESCAPE  FROM  GOD'S  CLAIMS.  219 

will  always  find  you  out  when  you  do  violence  to  your 
conscience  and  sin  against  Him.  If  you  were  in  the  heart 
of  the  universe,  and  it  in  ruins  piled  over  you,  still  would 
God's  eye  beam  full  upon  you,  and  His  almighty  hand  be 
over  you.  Be  sure  of  this  :  your  sin  will  find  you  out, 
and  you  will  find  that  it  is  an  evil  and  a  bitter  thing. 
There  is  but  one  refuge  from  sin,  and  that  thing  is  the 
blood  of  Christ. 

Let  this  subject,  secondly,  teach  you  to  take  a  wide  and 
far-seeing  view  of  your  relation  to  your  fellow-man,  and 
of  your  obligations  to  your  Creator  and  to  the  universe  He 
has  made,  and  in  which  He  has  given  you  your  place. 
As  the  Creator  has  designs  of  ultimate  good  to  you, 
and  of  ultimate  glory  to  himself  through  you,  so  you 
should  be  diligent  to  work  out  your  high  mission  among 
your  fellow-creatures.  Your  first  and  highest  duty  is  to 
seek  the  salvation  of  your  own  soul.  There  is  a  personal 
responsibility  resting  upon  you  to  do  this,  from  which 
there  is  no  possible  escape.  It  is  identical  with  your  ex- 
istence. You  owe  it  as  a  debt  for  which  nothing  can  be 
substituted — as  a  debt  imposed  upon  you  by  the  Almighty 
Creator,  a  debt  to  Him,  to  the  universe,  and  to  yourself 
to  be  pious,  for  it  is  only  by  being  pious  that  you  are  in 
harmony  with  the  higher  laws  of  your  being,  and  in  com- 
munion with  the  Father  of  your  soul ;  and  it  is  only  in 
such  communion  you  can  find  the  happiness  that  will  fill 
your  longing  spirit.  If,  then,  God  suffers  sin  to  develop 
itself  into  crimes  and  horrible  calamities  upon  the  earth 
around  you,  it  does  not  prove  that  He  hates  you,  but  that 
He  would  have  you  look  upon  this  earth  as  the  great 
lessor-giving  book  of  the  universe,  and  have  you  show 


220  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

your  obedience  and  love  to  him  by  fleeing  to  Christ  as  a 
Saviour  from  all  sin.  And  who  can  tell  but  that  the  in- 
habitants of  sister  orbs  and  sister  stars  may  be  grouped 
into  gazing  clusters,  beholding  with  rapture  how  God  is 
bringing  good  out  of  evil  on  our  planet,  and  at  the  same 
time  establishing  his  laws  by  the  warning  that  is  given 
in  the  punishment  of  sin,  and  exalting  his  grace  and  glory 
in  its  forgiveness  through  the  blood  of  his  own  Son  ? 

Thirdly.  Learn,  therefore,  young  men,  to  look  at  your 
conduct  in  all  its  hearings  for  all  coming  time.  A  stone 
is  thrown  into  the  sea,  but  when  and  where  do  the  agita- 
tions of  the  waters  cease  ?  A  spark  ignites  a  house,  and 
that  house  communicates  with  other  houses,  and  a  whole 
city  is  wrapped  in  flames.  All  languages  have  proverbs 
earnestly  inculcating  the  wisdom  and  duty  of  resisting 
evil  at  its  beginning.  Almost  all  of  the  objections  raised 
against  revelation  are  raised  on  narrow,  obscure,  and 
partial,  if  not  superficial  views  of  its  doctrines.  Accustom 
yourselves,  then,  to  take  broad,  and  deep,  and  thorough, 
and  intelligent,  and  high,  and  manly,  and  honorable  views 
of  all  subjects.  Fetter  not  your  soul  down  to  any  thing 
little,  low,  or  superficial.  Guard  against  a  narrow,  en- 
vious, jealous,  fault-finding  spirit.  If  you  see  only  the 
foundation  of  a  house,  you  ought  not  therefore  and  thence 
to  judge  what  will  be  the  splendor  of  its  superstructure. 
If  you  read  the  title-page  of  a  book,  or  even  the  index  of 
a  book,  or  even  a  few  chapters,  you  are  not  authorized, 
surely,  to  say  that  it  is  good  or  bad,  false  or  true,  as  a 
whole.  In  judging  of  men  and  things,  and  of  the  dis- 
pensations of  Providence,  never  allow  yourself  to  rest  on 
a  mere  outside  first  view.     Judge  not  by  appearances, 


LIFE-LONG  EVENTS  TOGETHER,  221 

but  judge  righteous  judgment.  Joseph's  history  teaches 
you  to  wait  for  the  end  before  you  make  up  your  judg- 
ment. His  character,  or  the  providence  of  God  over  him, 
is  not  to  be  judged  of  from  any  one  part  of  his  life  separ- 
ated from  the  rest.  You  cannot  make  up  your  verdict 
concerning  him  or  concerning  God's  providence  as  it 
relates  to  him,  from  seeing  him  on  one  of  the  Ishmaelite 
camels,  on  his  way  through  the  desert  to  Egypt ;  nor  as 
you  see  him  under  the  temptation  of  Potiphar's  wife,  nor 
when  thrown  into  Pharaoh's  round-house.  If  you  stop 
with  your  pictures  of  Joseph  here,  you  will  say,  what  a 
poor,  unfortunate  young  man — a  very  "Murad  the  un- 
lucky ;"  if  excellent  in  character,  he  is  certainly  most  un- 
fortunate in  life.  But  judge  not  the  Lord  by  feeble  sense. 
Wait  for  the  second  series.  See  Joseph  at  Pharaoh's 
right  hand — see  him  receiving  his  brethren  and  father, 
and  saving  them  and  the  Egyptian  empire  from  destruc- 
tion—see him  triumphant  over  all  his  trials,  and  dying 
full  of  years  and  honors,  and  his  name  held  in  everlasting 
remembrance  ;  and  then  say,  Do  not  the  heavens  rule  ? 
Is  there  not  a  God  who  judgeth  righteously  in  the  earth  ? 
So  in  regard  to  Daniel  and  his  three  friends,  you  must 
put  all  their  life-long  events  into  the  series  after  their 
order  and  kind  before  you  can  make  up  your  judgment 
as  to  the  doctrines  of  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  text.  And 
as  to  yourself,  whether  prosperous  or  adverse,  remember 
that  the  end  is  not  yet.  Blow  after  blow  may  have  fallen 
upon  you,  wave  after  wave  have  rolled  oyer  you,  one  dis- 
appointment after  another  have  pursued  you ;  whichever 
way  you  have  looked,  whatever  you  have  attempted, 


222  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

nothing  but  trials  and  losses  have  met  you.  Wait  for  the 
end.  God  hideth  himself  that  He  may  be  trusted.  Hope 
on,  and  look  up,  and  hope  ever.  It  is  only  when  the 
whole  chain  of  Providence  shall  be  seen  in  the  clear  light 
of  eternity  that  we  shall  be  able  to  see  that  all  its  links 
are  of  pure  gold,  and  that  they  bind  together  our  happi- 
ness and  the  Divine  glory,  and  the  greatest  good  of  the 
whole  universe.  You  must  look,  then,  at  all  of  God's  dis- 
pensations in  this  world  in  connection  with  another  world. 
Your  residence  here  on  earth  is  but  a  pilgrimage  through 
which  you  are  passing,  and  the  world  to  come  is  your 
eternal  home.  This  world  is  but  a  small  spot,  a  little  tiny 
nook  and  part  of  God's  universe.  What  seems  dark  and 
irreconcilable  with  wisdom  and  goodness  now,  and  in  its 
relations  to  this  world,  when  seen  in  eternity  and  in  its 
relations  to  the  vast  domains  over  which  God's  sceptre  is 
swayed,  will  be  found  to  be  perfectly  consistent  with  Al- 
mighty power,  wisdom,  justice,  and  love.  God  is  a  rock  ; 
all  his  ways  are  perfect  ;  all  the  works  of  the  klxg 
of  Heaven  are  truth,  and  his  ways  judgment  ;  and 
those  that  walk  in  pride  he  is  able  to  abase. 

Finally.  The  fact  that  the  heavens  do  rule,  and  that  all 
the  works  of  the  King  of  Heaven  are  truth,  and  his  ways 
judgment,  teaches  you  never  to  despair  of  the  progress  and 
happiness  of  the  human  race.  Truth  cannot  die.  "  The 
eternal  years  of  God  are  hers."  Principles  are  like  the 
Eternal  attributes  ;  they  are  transcripts  of  Infinite  excel- 
lence. Hence  the  earnest  expectation  of  the  creature 
waiteth  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God ;  for  we 
know  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.— ROBESPIERRE.  223 

pain  together  until  now.  In  looking  at  the  scenes  of  hor- 
ror that  took  place  in  the  French  Revolution  of  1782,  at 
first,  it  might  seem  strange  that  God  would  allow  such 
awful  crimes  to  be  perpetrated  within  his  dominions  ;  but 
time  and  reflection  have  shown  that  great  lessons  were 
taught  by  these  atrocities,  which  would  not,  in  all  proba- 
bility, have  been  so  successfully  taught  in  any  other  way, 
nor  by  any  other  people.  How  else  was  the  profligacy 
of  the  court  and  aristocracy,  and  even  of  the  people  them- 
selves, which  had  been  so  notorious  for  ages,  to  be  pun- 
ished ?  How  else  was  the  world  to  be  taught,  asks  Dr. 
Cummin g,  of  London,  so  effectually,  what  a  people  can 
do  and  will  do  who  cast  off  God,  as  was  taught  by  the 
French  nation  during  the  reign  of  atheism  and  terror? 
How  else  could  so  perfect  a  demonstration  have  been 
given  that  the  world  cannot  be  carried  on  without  reli- 
gion, and  that  society  cannot  cohere  without  Qod — that, 
in  the  words  of  Robespierre  himself,  "  if  there  be  not  a 
God,  we  must  make  one,  in  order  to  make  society  hold  to- 
gether. 

Even  the  athiest,  in  his  blasphemy,  here  proclaims 
God  almost  as  distinctly  as  Nebuchadnezzar,  when  he  de- 
clares that  "  God  reigns  and  the  heavens  do  rule."  The 
miseries,  then,  of  one  generation,  and  the  blessings  of  an- 
other, are  often  in  many  ways  connected ;  and  in  looking 
at  God's  dispensations  to  men  and  to  nations,  you  must 
look  at  them  as  a  whole,  and  as  completed  only  at  the 
judgment-day.  The  sufferings  of  our  fathers  prepared 
the  soil  and  sowed  the  seeds  which  have  ripened  for  us, 
and  now  it  is  for  us  to  prepare  precious  harvests  for  the 


224:  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

generations  to  come.  God  reigns,  and  the  powers  of 
hell  cannot  prevail  against  his  government.  All  history 
proves  that  every  false  religion  is  a  blunder,  and  that 
every  atom  of  Truth  is  immortal.     All  history  shows 

THAT  WHERE  THE  SPIRIT  OF  GoD  IS,  THERE,  AND  THERE    ONLY 

is  liberty.  Is  there,  then,  nothing  to  encourage  your 
faith  and  command  your  exertions  in  the  faithfulness  of 
God's  providences  toward  his  people  ?  Is  there  not  pal- 
pable evidence  of  his  sovereign  dominion,  in  making  all 
men,  in  all  sorts  of  pursuits,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
designedly  or  undesignedly,  contribute  to  spread  the 
splendor  of  his  name  ?  Is  it  no  evidence  that  the  heavens 
do  rule,  that  you  have  proofs  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  dug 
up  from  the  lava  of  Herculaneum,  from  the  pictures  of 
Pompeii,  and  excavated  from  the  graves  of  Mneveh  and 
Babylon,  and  from  the  tombs  of  Egypt  and  Arabia  ?  Is 
there  no  proof  that  God  is  watching  over  the  Bible  of 
your  mother,  whose  every  page  she  once  bedewed  with 
tears  from  eyes  that  now  can  weep  no  more,  in  the  fact 
that  he  is  bringing  forth  elucidations  of  its  truth,  and 
proofs  of  his  Gospel  from  the  graves  of  long-buried  cities, 
and  the  wreck  of  nations,  as  well  as  from  the  depths  of 
the  earth  and  the  heights  of  the  heavens — -till  at  last  the 
most  skeptical  minds  are  constrained  to  own  that  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  most  astonishing  fact  in  the 
world  ?  Is  there  nothing  in  your  own  personal  history — 
nothing  of  goodness  and  mercy  that  should  lead  you  to 
repentance — nothing  of  judgment  that  warns  you  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come — nothing  that  convinces  you  there 
is  a  Providence  above  that  watches  over  you,  and  calls 
you  to  seek  glory,  honor,  and  immortality  ?     You  believe 


BELIEVE  IN  CHRIST. 


225 


in  God  ;  believe  also  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  then  in 
the  ruling  of  the  heavens  you  shall  find  that  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  for  that 
the  blood  of  his  son  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all 
sin.     Amen. 


rV  0*  THT 

Sterol 


220  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 


LECTUEE  XI. 


On  Dan.,  v. 

I 
The  Bible  God's  Crystal  Palace. — Authors  on  Daniel. — Prophecy  fulfilled. — 
The  Feast,  why  it  was  sinful. — Babylonians  not  Turks. — Their  Wives  might 
be  at  their  Feasts. — How  the  Vessels  were  used. — The  Narrative  corroborated. 
— Toleration. — Desecration. — Music. — The.  Glee  spoiled. —  Why  learned  Men 
could  not  read  the  Writing. —  Grotefend. —  Woman's  Agency. — She  is  neces- 
sary to  Man's  Happiness. — The  Chaldean  Astrologers  were  not  Spirit  Rap- 
pers— were  Magi,  but  not  Magicians. — Daniel,  President  of  the  Babylonish 
Smithsonian  Institute. — The  Stars  preaching. —  One  Sin  often  leads  to  an- 
other.—  Great  Sin  not  to  heed  Divine  Warnings. —  Where  Responsibility 
rests. — Deists'1  Condemnation. — The  Worldling's  Stone  of  Stumbling. — Do 
not  neglect  regular  Preaching  of  the  Divine  Word. — Fear  the  Power  of  Con- 
science.— Sin  is  indeed  a  bitter  Thing. — Evil-doers  only  fear  the  Law. — Rea- 
son why  Universalists  and  Hell-redemptionists  preach  Nothing  but  that  there 
is  no  Devil  and  no  Hell. — The  Orthodox  Way  the  more  philosophical. 

In  the  morning  discourse  we  made  a  hurried  visit  to 
the  Crystal  Palace  for  the  exhibition  of  the  industry  of 
all  nations,  and  attempted  to  show  that  the  Bible  is  God's 
Crystal  Palace,  built  expressly  for  the  exhibition  of  his 
attributes  and  glory  to  all  nations,  and  for  the  supply  of 
their  wants.  This  evening  we  ask  you  to  go  with  us  far 
to  the  eastward,  not  to  an  exhibition  of  industrial  arts, 
but  to  an  Oriental  feast  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates 
some  two  thousand  three  hundred  years  ago.  The  last 
lecture  was  on  God's  universal  providence  over  men  and 
things,  as  taught  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  remarkable  edict. 
Repeatedly  have  I  asked  your  attention  to  three  works  on 
the  book  oft  Daniel,  which  I  again  name,  and  hope  you 


PROPHECY  FULFILLED  IN  BABYLON'S  FALL.  227 

will  procure  and  read  as  far  as  you  have  opportunity. 
The  first  is  by  the  late  Professor  Stuart,  of  Andover,  and 
is  designed  particularly  for  students  and  theologian  s.  The 
second  is  by  Professor  Gaussen,  of  Geneva.  His  lectures 
on  Daniel  have  been  translated,  and  are  published  by  the 
Presbyterian  Board  in  Philadelphia.  They  are  addressed 
especially  to  Sabbath-school  children.  The  other  work  to 
which  I  allude  is  by  Dr.  Cumming,  of  London.  The  last- 
named  works  are  popular  in  their  style.  They  are  devoted 
mainly  to  Daniel's  prophecies,  and  are  directed  parti- 
cularly against  Popery.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred  tiiat  by 
naming  these  authors  I  endorse  all  the  opinions  they  ad- 
vance. I  do  not  agree  with  them  in  many  places,  yet 
they  are  able  writers,  and  worthy  of  being  read. 

In  regard  to  the  chapter  before  us,  two  things  are  to  be 
remembered : 

Firstly.  The  particulars  of  the  taking  of  Babylon  by 
Cyrus,  as  given  by  Herodotus  and  Xenophon,  correspond 
with  our  narrative. 

Secondly.  In  the  taking  of  Babylon  we  have  a  remark- 
able fulfillment  of  divine  prophecies.  The  time  and  man- 
ner of  its  fall  and  subsequent  history  all  fulfills  exactly 
what  the  Hebrew  prophets  foretold.  Jeremiah  had  said 
that  all  nations  should  serve  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  his  son 
and  his  son's  son,  and  that  then  his  empire  should  cease. 
Belshazzar  was  his  grandson.  You  know  from  history 
that  Cyrus  gained  a  victory  over  the  King  of  Babylon, 
and  shut  him  up  in  his  metropolis,  which  was  considered 
impregnable,  and  had  within  its  walls  provisions  for 
twenty  years.  The  siege  had  continued  over  two  years, 
when,  during  the  feast  spoken  of  in  this  chapter,  Cyrus, 


228  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

having  drained  the  River  Euphrates,  which  ran  through 
the  city,  marched  his  army  into  the  city  along  the  channel, 
and  surprised  the  palace  guards,  slew  the  king  himself, 
and  became  absolute  master  of  the  city. 

I.  Our  purpose  now,  however,  is  first  to  attend  to  the 
Feast  of  Belshazzar.  It  was  a  great  annual  festival, 
commemorative  of  some  great  event.  Some  think  it  was 
Sacae,  the  Saturnalia  of  the  Babylonians.  Others  say  it 
was  a  feast  in  honor  of  the  king's  birth-day,  or  of  his 
coronation.  Whatever  feast  it  was,  it  seems  to  have  been 
attended  with  the  pomp,  religious  rites,  and  services  of 
the  empire.  The  Babylonians  were  famous  above  all 
other  nations  for  intemperance,  especially  in  drinking.  A 
feast  commemorative  of  a  man's  birth-day  or  of  his  marri- 
age is  not  necessarily  sinful.  A  national  festival,  as  the 
Fourth  of  July,  is  not  in  itself  sinful ;  nor  was  it  the 
eating  and  drinking  in  moderation,  but  the  excess,  and 
the  spirit  in  which  it  was  done,  that  made  Belshazzar's 
feast  so  impious.  Their  excess  was  a  great  sin,  but  their 
defiance  of  Jehovah  and  impious  mockery  in  using  the 
sacred  vessels  brought  from  Jerusalem  was  a  far  greater 
sin.  The  king  and  his  lords,  by  using  the  holy  vessels 
of  the  Jewish  temple  for  their  licentious  and  idolatrous 
festival,  hurled  defiance  at  the  God  of  Abraham,  and 
showed  their  contempt  for  the  power  of  Him  who  doeth 
according  to  his  will  in  the  armies  of  heaven.  In  ac- 
counting for  the  presence  of  the  king's  wives  and  con- 
cubines and  the  queen-mother  at  this  feast,  you  must 
recollect  that  the  Babylonians  were  not  Mussulmans,  nor 
were  they  even  like  the  Persians.  Yashti,  the  Persian 
queen,  we  are  told  in  Esther,  did  not  appear  at  the  feast- 


WOMEN  AT  BELSHAZZAR'S  FEAST.  229 

table,  even  when  commanded  by  the  king.  Among  the 
Greeks,  none  but  women  of  depraved  character  sat  down 
to  feast  with  men.  But  among  the  Babylonians,  ancient 
historians  agree  in  saying,  the  custom  was  different,  as  it 
was  also  with  the  ancient  Egyptians.  The  excess  of  eating 
and  drinking,  and  the  character  of  the  dancing  at  an 
Oriental  feast,  are  beyond  the  limits  of  modesty  in  a 
public  discourse.  The  dancing  of  men  and  women  in  the 
East  is  far  worse  than  the  Polka,  which  we  rejoice  to 
know  is  about  to  be  prohibited  in  the  most  respectable 
circles. 

The  king,  heated  with  wine,  commanded  them  to  bring 
in  the  vessels  of  the  Jerusalem  temple.  There  was  need- 
less insult  to  the  captive  Jews,  as  well  as  impious  blas- 
phemy against  their  God,  in  this  desecration  of  their  holy 
vessels.  It  was  according  to  the  customs  of  the  times 
and  the  fortunes  of  war  among  the  Eastern  nations,  for 
the  victorious  party  to  carry  away  the  idols  or  images 
worshiped  by  the  vanquished,  as  well  as  their  treasures 
and  other  precious  things.  The  prevailing  idea  was,  that 
every  nation  had  its  own  presiding  god  or  gods,  and  that 
the  respective  deities  were  interested  in  the  wars  of  their 
worshipers,  and  that  therefore  the  gods  as  well  as  the 
people  of  a  conquered  country  were  vanquished,  and 
made  the  servants  of  the  conquering  people  and  gods. 
The  prophets,  before  the  captivity,  told  the  people  that  if 
they  continued  impenitent,  they  and  their  idols  should  be 
carried  away  to  Babylon.  This  was  true  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  ten  tribes ;  and  of  Judah  it  was  true  that  the  people, 
and  the  holy  vessels  from  the  temple  of  God  at  Jerusalem, 
and  the  royal  treasury  were  taken  to  Babylon. 


230  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

History  speaks  of  the  outrages  committed  on  the  god3 
of  Egypt  by  Cambyses,  and  of  the  profanation  of  the  gods 
of  Babylon  by  Darius  and  Xerxes.  It  was  very  natural 
that  a  weak,  haughty,  and  impious  monarch  like  Belshaz- 
zar,  when  heated  with  wine,  should  have  sent  for  the 
splendid  temple  vessels  as  evidences  of  his  magnificence, 
and  proof  that  the  God  of  the  Jews  was  inferior  to  his 
own.  Still,  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  the  captivity  of 
the  Hebrews,  and  the  possession  of  their  holy  things,  gave 
no  right  to  King  Belshazzar  to  insult  these  poor  captives. 
No  King,  Synod,  Council,  Pope,  or  Sanhedrim  has  any 
warrant  to  prescribe  my  faith,  or  to  insult  the  humblest 
rite  of  any  man's  religion.  Let  a  man's  faith  be  that  of 
Hindooism,  Mormonism,  Mohammedanism,  Romanism, 
or  any  other  ism,  no  mortal  has  a  right  to  oppress,  or  per- 
secute, or  insult  him  for  his  faith.  It  is  our  duty  to  be 
able  to  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  us.  It  is  a 
great  misfortune  to  follow  a  false  faith  and  worship  a  false 
god  ;  it  is,  therefore,  our  duty  to  labor  and  to  pray  for  the 
conversion  of  all  men  from  error  to  truth.  It  is  our  duty 
to  try  to  enlighten  and  convince  them,  and  bring  them  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  "We  may  labor  to  con- 
vince our  fellow-men  of  their  errors,  but  we  may  not  per 
secute  them  nor  cast  ridicule  upon  their  sacred  things. 
The  sin  consisted  mainly  in  the  desecration  of  that  which 
was  holy,  or  the  application  of  the  vessels  of  the  temple 
of  Israel's  God  to  profane  and  licentious  purposes.  Nor 
is  this  sin  peculiar  to  the  ancients.  Unfortunately,  it  has 
not  been  confined  to  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  nor  the 
Nile,  the  Tiber  nor  the  Thames.  The  same  sin  is  found 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.     Any  and  every  perver- 


DESECRATIONS.— USE  OP  MUSIC.  231 

sion  of  holy  things  is  a  desecration  of  them.     "When  the 
sacrament  is  taken  without  faith  to  discern  the  Lord's 
body,  or  to  cover  some  sinister  design,  or  to  obtain  a 
degree  in  some  university,  or  as  a  passport  to  some  office 
or  as  a  qualification  for  a  political  or  civil  sphere,  as  is 
sometimes  done  in  Great  Britain,  then  the  sacred  vessels 
of  the  Lord's  house  are  desecrated  to  an  unholy  end. 
When  a  man  professes  to  be  a  Christian  for  any  mere 
worldly  purpose,  then,  like  Simon  Magus,  he  seeks  to 
make  gain  of  godliness,  and  is  guilty  of  awful  hypocrisy. 
"When  the  facts  and  the  expressions  of  the  Bible,  its 
sublime,  its  pure,  and  its  holy  truths  are  used,  as  they 
frequently  are,  to  point  a  pun,  add  edge  to  a  jest,  or  keen- 
ness to  a  sarcasm,  to  excite  a  laugh,  or  to  provoke  a  sneer, 
you  have  God's  vessels  desecrated  to  unhallowed  and 
profane  ends."     It  is  dangerous  to  construct  jests  from 
the  Bible.     Such  a  habit  indulged  will  often  destroy  the 
salutary  influence  of  the  most  solemn  lessons  of  the  Bible. 
It  may  fairly  be  called  into  question  whether  or  not  many 
of  our  musical  festivals  are  not  a  desecration  of  holy 
things.     The  opera,  concert,  and  oratorio,  it  is  true,  are 
very  different  things  from  the  theatre.    There  is  no  science 
more  noble  and  more  befitting  than  music  for  the  un- 
folding of  the  attributes  of  God,  and  making  more  vivid 
and  glorious  the  grandeur  of  his  truth  and  works.     But 
when  the  awful  agonies  of  Calvary,  the  deep  and  sorrow- 
ful experiences  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  sublime  des- 
criptions of  the  judgment  to  come  are  used  and  encored 
by  an  unthinking  crowd,  I  fear  there  is  then  a  desecration 
of  holy  things.     The  noble  productions  of  Handel  and  the 
magnificent  oratorios  of  the  masters  of  music  should  be 


232  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

used  as  acts  of  solemn  worship,  and  not  at  Belshazzar's 
feasts.  There  are  so  many  ways  in  which  God's  vessels 
are  desecrated,  that  I  cannot  now  attempt  to  point  them 
out  in  detail.  In  whatever  way  religion  is  dragged  from 
its  lofty  and  controlling  sphere,  and  made  to  gild  the 
claims  of  a  party  or  of  a  sect,  then  and  there  we  have  a 
repetition  of  Belshazzar's  profanation.  When  the  Sabbath 
is  made  a  day  of  pleasure,  of  visiting,  feasting,  and  writing 
letters — when  the  house  of  God  is  used  for  any  thing  but 
the  purposes  of  religious  worship — then  we  have  an  ap- 
proach to  the  desecration  of  Belshazzar's  feast.  It  does 
not  require  all  the  circumstances  of  Belshazzar's  feast  to 
be  guilty  of  his  sin.  If  the  heart  that  was  made  for  God 
is  made  the  throne  of  Mammon — if  the  affections  are  set 
on  things  earthly,  then  God  is  dishonored,  and  we  are 
guilty  of  desecrating  holy  things. 

But  let  us  leave  this  disquisition  about  the  desecration 
of  holy  things  and  observe  the  feast.  It  was  one  of  the 
greatest  splendor.  The  most  spacious  and  magnificent 
rooms  in  the  richest  city  in  the  world  were  crowded  with 
rank  and  beauty  ;  wit,  learning  and  aristocracy,  and  roy- 
alty were  there.  Precious  stones  and  costly  perfumery 
filled  the  saloons  with  dazzling  lustre  and  sweetest  fra- 
grance. "Wit  sparkled  with  the  sparkling  of  cups,  and 
reason  flowed  with  the  flowing  of  the  wine.  They  drank 
toasts  of  enthusiastic  patriotism ;  they  sang  songs  of 
boundless  loyalty,  and  shouted  defiance  to  every  foe. 
The  high  noon  of  the  splendor  of  the  feast  has  come.  All 
hearts  were  bounding  and  all  spirits  were  joyous.  But 
what  is  this  ?  The  cup  falls  from  the  king's  hand — his 
countenance  has  changed  and  his  thoughts  trouble  him ; 


COLUMBUS'  EGG.-THE  WKITING.  233 

the  joints  of  his  loins  were  loosed,  and  his  knees  smote 
the  one  against  the  other.  A  thrill  of  terror  pierces  like 
a  sword  through  every  soul ;  many  faint,  and  many  shriek 
with  alarm.  And  what  is  the  cause  of  this  strange  scene  % 
A  mysterious  writing  appeared  upon  the  plastering  of  the 
palace  wall.  ~No  eye  was  seen  there  to  guide  the  hand — 
the  fingers  that  traced  the  characters  belonged  none  knew 
to  whom,  and  the  inscription  none  could  read.  As  the 
king  and  his  lords  could  not  read  the  inscription,  it  is 
said,  why  were  they  thus  afraid  ?  They  were  afraid  be- 
cause their  own  consciences  condemned  them.  All  men 
who  live  in  sin  dread  what  is  future  and  unknown.  But 
the  man  who  is  at  peace  with  God  sees  all  events  ap- 
proaching him  with  the  assurance  that  they  shall  work 
together  for  his  good. 

II.  It  has  been  asked  why  the  wise  men  of  Babylon 
could  not  read  the  inscription.  The  words  are  mainly 
Chaldean.  Why  could  not  the  Chaldee  scholar  read 
them  then  as  well  as  now  ?  To  this  we  answer,  all  the 
learned  men  of  Spain  could  make  an  egg  stand  on  the 
table  after  Columbus  had  shown  them  how.  There  will 
doubtless  be  several  claimants  for  the  invention  of  a 
caloric  ship  after  the  Ericsson  is  unfait  accompli. 

Several  reasons  are  assigned  by  commentators  for  the 
inability  of  the  king's  astrologers  to  read  the  writing. 
One  is,  that  the  words  were  written  in  the  ancient  Hebrew 
character,  the  knowledge  of  which  was  even  then  lost  to 
all  except  the  Jewish  priests  and  scribes,  and  not  in  the 
modern  Hebrew  character,  which  differs  little  or  nothing 
from  the  Chaldee.  The  characters,  the  forms  of  the 
letters  in  winch  the  Old  Testament  is  commonly  written, 


234:  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

is  not  the  ancient  Hebrew  characters.    It  is  supposed  that 
the  square  form  of  the  letters  now  used  is  not  the  primi- 
tive form.     We  might  take  three  or  more  words  having 
the  same  radical  letters,  and  having  the  same  significations 
in  Hebrew,  Syriac,  and  Arabic,  and  yet  a  scholar  must 
be   acquainted  with  each  of  these  languages  before  he 
could  read  these  words  in  all  of  them.     The  words  are  the 
same,  but  the  forms  of  the  letters  are  different.     Latin  and 
English  letters  are  alike,  but  the  Greek  characters  are 
different.     So,  when,  for  convenience'  sake,  the  printer 
puts  the  Greek  word  aidnios  in  English  letters,  the  mere 
Greek  scholar  does  not  know  his  old  acquaintance,  nor 
the  mere  English   scholar  divine  whence  it   comes  nor 
what  it  means.     If  the  inscription,  then,  on  the  wall  at 
Belshazzar's   feast  was  in   ancient   characters,  it  is  not 
strange  that  his  wise  men  were  unable  to  read  it.     Others 
think  that  the  words  were  inscribed  in  hieroglyphics,  of 
which  the  astrologers  had  no  key,  and  that  we  have  not  the 
original  in  our  Bible,  but  translations  of  the  forms  of  the 
letters,  as  well  as  of  the  sense  ;  others  think  that  the  writ- 
ing was  intelligible  only  to  such  as  were  aided  in  reading 
it  by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  others  think  they  were  so  in- 
toxicated or  so  frightened  that  they  could  not  read.     You 
may  adopt  any  or  whichever  of  these  opinions  about  their 
inability  that  pleases  you  best.     It  is  plain,  I  think,  that 
the  characters  were  neither  the  usual  demotic  nor  hieratic. 
Grotefend  has  rendered  it  nearly  certain  that  the  Baby- 
lonians used  both,  and  that  their  magi,  like  the  priests  of 
Egypt,  were  able  to  read  both.     I  only  insist,  however, 
on  the  fact  that  the  king's  astrologers  could  not  read  this 
inscription,  and  that  Daniel   could;   and  you   will  be 


WOMAN,  MAN'S  BEST  FRIEND.  235 

pleased,  no  doubt,  to  observe  how  the  interpretation  was 
brought  out.     It  was  obtained,  as  is  often  the  case  with 
our  greatest  blessings,  through  the  agency  of  woman,  the 
aged  grandmother  of  the  king,  the  queen  dowager,  as  our 
European  cousins  would  call  her.    Blank  terror  and  alarm 
rei^n  in  the  court.     The  kin^  and  his  courtiers  are  at 
their  wit's  end.    No  one  seems  to  be  calm  and  self-pos- 
sessed but  Nitocris,  the  widow  of  old  Nebuchadnezzar.    • 
She  instantly  steps  up  and  suggests  that  Daniel  should  be 
sent  for,  and  gives  her  reason.     It  is  strange  that  he  was 
not  thought  of  before,  or  that  he  was  not  at  hand.     His 
services  to  the  state  seem  to  have  been  forgotten.     Em- 
pires as  well  as  republics  will  sometimes  be  ungrateful. 
It  often  happens  that  a  woman,  whose  sex  is  usually  so 
easily  agitated  by  trifles,  when  overtaken  by  some  great 
crisis,  which  calls  forth  all  the  latent  energies  of  her  soul, 
is  found  to  display  a  calmness,  a  magnanimity,  a  self- 
possession  that  puts  to  shame  the  powers  of  the  other  sex. 
Our  London  friend  goes  off  here  into  an  ecstacy  at  the 
magnanimity   and   self-possession   of  this  aged  woman. 
The  whole  history  of  Christianity  does  indeed  show  that    v 
woman  is  made  for  a  crisis,  and  happy  is  he  who  has  one 
at  his  side  in  the  day  of  trial.     Our  earthly  happiness 
depends  upon  the  society  of  an  intelligent,  amiable  wo- 
man— the  mere  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  a  female   I  7  j 
heart  is  a  great  blessing.     Who  was  last  at  the  cross? 
Who  was  first  at  the  tomb  on  the  resurrection  morn? 
Woman.     If  Eve  was  the  first  in  the  transgression,  her 
daughters  have  ever  been  first  in  healing  the  sorrows  of 
the  fall.     The  vigils  of  the  dead,  the  beds  of  the  sick,  and 
the  chambers  of  the  dying  are  witnesses  of  her  patience 


236  LECTURES  Otf  DANIEL. 

and  sleepless  care.  It  is  important  for  young  men  to 
properly  estimate  the  position  of  woman.  She  needs  no 
other  charter  of  rights  than  the  Bible.  No  conventions 
can  do  for  her  what  Christianity  has  done.  It  is  the 
ordinance  of  God  that  she  should  be,  not  the  slave,  but 
the  helpmate  and  companion  ;  not  the  head,  but  the  friend 
of  man.  Just  where  woman  is  placed  in  her  proper 
position,  there  society  culminates  in  its  loftiest  grandeur. 
And  her  proper  position  is  just  where  the  Bible  has 
placed  her,  as  daughter,  sister,  wife,  and  mother,  and 
every  where  man's  best  friend  and  counselor. 

III.  These  astrologers  were  not  enchanters — they  were 
not  diviners — they  professed  no  communion  with  evil 
spirits.  They  were  men  who  studied  the  signs  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  having  no  written  revelations,  they 
believed  that  God  had  written  the  past,  the  present,  and 
also  something  of  the  future  in  the  sky — that  the  stars 
were  the  letters  of  that  revelation,  and  that  by  studying- 
them  they  might  interpret  things  to  come.  In  allowing 
himself,  therefore,  to  be  placed  at  their  head,  Daniel  does 
not  violate  the  laws  of  Moses  against  soothsayers,  witches, 
and  the  like  Satan-possessed  persons.  These  wise  men 
of  Babylon  were  not  peeping  and  muttering  spirit  rappers, 
whose  pretended  revelations  were  filling  the  land  with 
lunatics.  They  were  magi,  but  not  magicians.  They 
were  philosophers,  but  not  sorcerers.  They  held  com- 
munion with  God's  outward  world,  and  not  with  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  or  with  devils.  When  Daniel,  there- 
fore, consented  to  become  the  head  master  of  this  learned 
body,  he  became  the  patron  of  science,  the  principal  of  a 
university,  or,  as  we  would  say,  the  President  of  the 


GOD  SEEN  IN  NATURE.  237 

Smithsonian  Institute.  Nothing  more.  Daniel  gave  no 
countenance  to,  and  had  no  sympathy  for  sorcerers,  magi- 
cians, or  persons  professing  to  hold  communion  with  evil 
spirits.  The  Chaldean  astrologers  and  wise  men  pos- 
sessed more  science  than  we  generally  give  them  credit 
for.  Even  now,  what  is  more  instructive,  and  refining, 
and  elevating  than  the  study  of  the  flowers,  the  earth,  and 
the  stars  of  the  sky — things  bright  and  glorious  above, 
and  beautiful  around  and  below  ?  The  next  best  book  to 
the  written  Word  of  God  is  the  volume  of  nature.  It  is 
God's  will  written  "  all  in  capitals."  The  stars  teach  as 
well  as  shine.    They  are  the  Creator's  throne. 

"  Nature  all  over  is  consecrated  ground, 
Teeming  with  growths  immortal  and  sublime." 

Nature's  volume  is  inferior  to  Revelation,  never  con- 
tradictory to  it.  We  see  the  wisdom,  power,  and  glory 
of  the  ineffable  Godhead  in  the  visible  things  of  creation. 
We  can  see  his  smile  in  the  sunbeams,  his  mercy  in  pro- 
vidence, his  footprints  in  the  depths  that  are  beneath  us, 
and  his  glory  in  the  vast  immensity  that  is  above  us. 
The  astrologers  of  the  distant  Euphrates,  where  the  air  is 
extremely  transparent,  the  skies  brilliant,  and  the  stars 
glowing  with  tropical  splendor,  are  not  to  be  blamed,  if, 
without  a  Bible  such  as  we  have,  they  took  for  their  Bible 
the  book  of  the  outer  world,  and  from  it  sought  to  under- 
stand the  mind,  the  purposes,  and  the  will  of  God. 

Let  us  then,  in  bringing  home  the  lessons  of  this  feast, 

IY.  Learn,  in  the  next  place,  that  one  sin  often  leads 

to  anothee.     The  king  makes  a  feast  for  his  thousand 

lords.     He  drinks  wine  before  them ;  orders  in  the  sacred 


238  LECTUKES  ON  DANIEL. 

vessels ;  and  then  they  drink  deeper,  and  became  more 
profane,  and  praise  their  idols  in  defiance  of  Jehovah. 

Sensuality  is  usually  connected  with  profaneness,  and 
both  lead  to  ruin.  The  king  and  his  lords,  instead  of  de- 
fending their  city  when  closely  besieged  by  a  formidable 
enemy,  were  spending  the  night  in  drinking  and  revelry. 
Such  low  vices  are  always  sinful,  but  more  so  when  in- 
dulged in  at  the  time  that  God's  judgments  are  heavy 
upon  us.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  sorrow  can 
be  drowned  in  the  intoxicating  cup.  It  is  but  to  add  fuel 
to  the  flame  to  flee  to  sensual  excesses  as  a  remedy  for 
grief,  pain,  losses,  or  bereavement.  The  records  of  crime 
abound  with  cases  illustrating  the  connection  between 
sins  against  the  body  and  our  fellow-men,  and  sins  against 
God.  Men  in  drunken  frolics  proceed  to  profaneness 
that  would  make  them  shudder  at  other  times.  It  is  then 
they  throw  off  the  fear  of  law  and  justice,  and  vent  their 
unlawful  passions,  and  make  a  jest  of  holy  things,  and 
dishonor  religion,  and  blaspheme  against  God.  Take 
heed,  says  the  apostle,  then  to  yourselves,  lest  at  any  tims 
your  hearts  he  overcharged  with  gluttony  and  drunkenness, 
and  that  the  day  of  calamity  and  judgment  come  upon 
you  unawares. 

Y.  Learn  that  there  is  great  guilt  and  deserved 
punishment  in  not  taking  warning  from  the  judgments 
of  God  upon  others,  especially  our  own  countrymen 
and  ancestors.  This  matter  is  often  referred  to  in  the 
Bible.  Daniel  was  now,  it  is  thought,  about  eighty-five 
years  of  age,  a  wise  and  holy  man,  in  whom  dwelt  the 
spirit  of  the  Most  High  God.  When  he  was  called  before 
the  anxious  king  to  interpret  the  writing,  he  first  reproves 


OBSERVE  GOD'S  PROVIDENCES.  239 

and  admonishes  the  haughty  monarch  for  not  having  im- 
proved the  dealings  of  God  with  his  father  and  grand- 
father. Then  Daniel  answered  and  said  before  the  king, 
Let  thy  gifts  be  to  thyself,  and  give  thy  rewards  to  an- 
other; I  neither  deserve  nor  desire  them.  Yet  I  will  read 
the  writing  unto  the  Icing,  and  maks  known  to  him  the 
interpretation  ;  but  before  I  can  explain  the  writing,  it  is 
my  solemn  and  painful  duty,  as  a  servant  of  Jehovah,  to 
try  and  awaken  the  king's  mind  to  serious  reflection.  The 
time  is  short — the  crisis  is  at  hand.  If  repentance  is  now 
available,  it  nnist  be  done  quickly.  Know  then,  O  thou 
King  of  Babylon,  that  the  Most  High  God,  &c. — See  v. 
18  and  24.  As  though  he  had  said,  You,  O  king,  have 
either  wilfully  forgotten  or  wholly  neglected  to  profit  by 
the  confession  of  Jehovah's  power  which  your  grandfather 
made.  Thou,  his  grandson  and  successor,  notwithstand- 
ing *his  remarkable  edict,  and  penitence,  and  conversion, 
hast  not  humbled  thine  heart,  though  thou  knowest  all 
this.  Thou  hast  not  given  honor  to  Him  who  has  the 
supreme  disposal  of  thy  affairs  and  thy  life.  Therefore, 
this  is  thy  doom,  this  is  the  writing :  thou  art  weighed 

IN  THE  BALANCES  AND  FOUND  WANTING. 

It  is  a  great  sin  not  to  observe  God's  providences,  and 
especially  in  our  own  families  and  in  our  own  personal 
history.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  rebel  against  God,  when 
he  is  striving  to  save  our  souls  by  calling  us  to  repent 
and  forsake  our  evil  ways  by  the  voice  of  affliction  or  be- 
reavement. Since  your  breath  and  all  your  ways,  the 
avenues  of  life  and  death,  are  in  his  hands,  let  it  be  your 
highest  care  to  glorify  him.  Daniel  condemned  Belshaz- 
zar,  not  so  much  for  the  crimes  he  was  in  the  act  of  com- 


240  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

mitting,  as  for  his  not  having  availed  himself  of  the 
opportunities  he  had  had  of  knowing  and  doing  the  will 
of  God.  The  history  of  his  grandfather  and  of  his  con- 
version, surely,  ought  to  have  taught  him  who  was  the 
true  God,  and  how  he  was  to  be  worshiped.  The  con- 
demnation at  the  judgment-day  will  not  be  that  you 
conscientiously  believed  a  lie,  but  it  will  be  that  you 
neglected  the  opportunities  of  acquiring  and  making  your- 
selves acquainted  with  the  truth.  The  responsibility  of  a 
man  for  his  belief  is  just  as  certain  as  his  responsibility 
for  his  conduct.  You  must  as  certainly  give  an  account 
to  God  for  the  sentiments,  opinions,  and  principles  you 
hold  and  communicate,  as  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 
The  responsibility  for  serious  errors  or  for  false  principles, 
or,  as  the  apostle  calls  them,  "  Damnable  heresies,"  does 
not  begin  at  the  moment  they  are  embraced,  nor  end  with 
their  avowal.  The  responsibility  goes  far  aback,  and  may 
rest  in  part  on  your  teachers,  on  your  companions,  on  the 
pictures  you  have  looked  at,  the  books  you  have  read,  the 
imaginations  you  have  indulged.  The  condemnation  will 
not  be  that  men  are  in  darkness,  but  that  they  refused  to 
come  to  the  light — not  that  they  were  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins,  but  that  they  would  not  come  to  Christ  that  they 
might  have  life.  The  deist  will  not  be  condemned  merely 
for  his  rejection  of  Revelation,  but  for  his  neglect  of  the 
means  of  making  himself  a  Christian.  Many  a  man  is 
sincere  in  error,  but  his  sincerity  does  not  change  his 
error  into  truth.  If  a  man  sincerely  makes  a  mistake  that 
causes  him  to  lose  his  property  or  his  life,  we  may  pity 
him,  but  neither  our  pity  nor  his  sincerity  changes  the 
result.     He  must  bear  the  consequences.     The  damning 


SINCERITY  IN  EEROU  NO  EXCUSE.  24:1 

fact  at  the  judgment-day  will  not  be  that  impenitent  and 
unbelieving  sinners  were  honest  in  their  delusion,  and 
conscientious  in  their  belief  of  erroneous  doctrines ;  but 
that  they  did  not  use  the  means  they  had,  or  could  have 
had,  to  know  the  truth.  The  condemnation  will  be,  that 
they  spent  more  time  in  the  study  of  shells  and  flowers, 
stars  and  butterflies,  than  in  the  study  of  Moses  and  the 
prophets — that  they  spent  more  time,  and  strength,  and 
means,  and  exertions  of  intellect,  in  enriching  themselves, 
feeding  and  adorning  their  bodies,  increasing  their  com- 
missions and  rent  rolls,  than  in  the  prayerful  study  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles — that  they  spent  more  anxious 
moments  in  studying  out  how  to  satisfy  their  own  minds 
that  there  was  no  necessity  to  repent  of  their  sins  and  be- 
lieve in  the  vicarious  atonement  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
or  to  establish  themselves  in  the  belief  that  there  is  no 
devil,  no  hell,  no  everlasting  punishment,  than  they  ever 
spared  for  the  solution  of  the  great  and  yet  simple  ques- 
tion, "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  V — a  question  which 
we  are  ready  to  think  should  be  the  first  and  the  last  with 
every  thinking  man.  There  is  fearful  guilt  in  not  doing 
our  duty,  as  well  as  in  doing  what  we  are  commanded 
not  to  do.  It  may  be  that  the  very  Sabbath  which  you 
have  resolved  to  spend  in  dissipation  at  home  might  have 
been  that  on  which  you  would  have  heard  the  truth 
which  would  have  saved  your  soul.  It  may  be  that  the 
very  discourse  which,  for  some  slight  cause  you  neglected 
to  hear,  was  the  one  of  all  others  which  would  have  done 
you  good.  Never,  therefore,  lose  an  opportunity  of  hear- 
ing the  truth  preached  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  if  you  can  pos- 
sibly avoid  it.     You  do  not  know  when  the  saving  word 

16 


242  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

may  be  spoken  that  will  turn  you  from  darkness  unto 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God. 

VI.  and  lastly.  Learn  to  fear  the  power  of  con- 
science. It  was  a  sense  of  guilt  which  put  Belshazzar 
into  such  terror,  and  filled  his  lords  with  astonishment. 
There  was  no  thunder,  no  lightning,  no  earthquake,  no 
assault  as  yet — nothing  but  a  handwriting  on  the  wall  of 
his  banqueting  hall.  For  aught  he  knew  of  the  meaning 
of  the  writing,  it  might  have  been  some  good  tidings  of 
victory,  some  favorable  message  from  the  gods  whom  he 
was  praising  in  his  drunken  feast.  Why,  then,  was  he  so 
alarmed?  Why  did  his  countenance  change  and  his 
thoughts  trouble  him,  so  that  the  joints  of  his  loins  were 
loosed  and  his  knees  smote  one  against  another?  Why 
did  he  cry  aloud  for  some  one  to  tell  him  the  meaning  of 
the  writing?  Plainly,  because  he  was  conscious  of  being 
sensual  and  profane,  and  conscious  that  such  things  were 
deserving  of  punishment.  It  is  conscience  that  "  makes 
cowards  of  us  .all."  The  righteous  are  bold  as  a  lion,  but 
the  wicked  flee  where  no  man  pursueth.  It  is  clear,  from 
the  history,  that  a  man's  own  mind  can  be  made  the 
source  of  his  greatest  terror.  ~Eo  extraneous  cause  of 
alarm  was  as  yet  brought  to  bear  upon  the  king.  It  was 
his  own  consciousness  of  guilt  that  tormented  him.  So 
now  God  can  easily  strike  terror  into  the  most  profligate 
man,  by  letting  his  own  thoughts  loose  upon  him.  [No 
language  can  overdraw  the  picture  of  a  profligate  sinner 
left  a  prey  to  his  lusts,  and  to  an  awakened  conscience. 
It  is  not  in  the  power  of  wine,  nor  of  splendor  and  com- 
panions, to  calm  his  spirits.  Sin,  however  gilded  or 
sugared  over,  is  a  misery ;  it  is  an  evil  and  bitter  thing. 


TERRORS  OF  A  GUILTY  CONSCIENCE.  243 

It  was  a  guilty  conscience  that  made  Adam  and  Eve  run 
and  hide  themselves.  It  was  conscience  that  made  Felix 
tremble  when  Paul  reasoned  before  him.  And  what  was 
it  that  made  Herod  think  that  Jesus  was  John  the  Baptist 
risen  from  the  dead  %  He  probably  was  a  Sadducee,  who 
did  not  believe  in  a  devil,  nor  the  existence  of  spirits,  nor 
the  resurrection ;  yet  so  strong  was  his  conscience,  that 
it  overpowered  his  cold  convictions,  and  suggested  to  him 
that  John,  whom  he  had  beheaded,  was  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  had  come  to  punish  him  for  his  crimes. 

A  guilty  conscience  is  a  fearful  enemy,  but  a  good  con- 
science is  a  man's  best  friend — it  is  a  perpetual  feast.  If 
you  would  be  happy,  you  must  keep  a  clear  conscience, 
void  of  offense  toward  God  and  man.  The  only  certain 
peace  is  to  have  the  heart  staid  upon  God  through  Jesus 
Christ.  The  great  doctrines  of  religion,  therefore,  instead 
of  leading  to  licentiousness,  or  filling  the  mind  with  gloomy 
terror,  are  the  best  and  the  only  preventives  of  unhappy 
forebodiDgs.  Who  is  it  that  lives  in  habitual  fear  of  the 
officers  of  the  law,  and  is  constantly  talking  of  the  pains 
and  penalties  inflicted  on  convicted  criminals,  and  trying 
to  prove  that  they  are  too  severe,  and  should  be  repealed  X 
Is  it  the  good  citizen  who  is  intent  only  to  do  his  duty 
toward  God  and  man  ?  Your  reading  of  men  and  things 
satisfies  you  that  it  is  not  among  such  that  you  find  con- 
tinual anxiety  about  the  penalties  of  the  law.  It  is  not 
among  such  that  you  find  unceasing  efforts  to  prove  that 
penalties  are  not  penalties,  or  if,  indeed,  there  be  any  such 
things,  there  at  least  ought  not  to  be  such  things — efforts 
so  unceasing  that  they  will  never,  never  have  done  with 
their  statements  of  the  case — never  satisfied  with  their 


244  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

own  defense,  but  ever  trying  to  make  them  stronger. 
Your  Observation  confirms  the  Bible  declaration,  that 
laws  and  the  penalties  of  law  are  for  evil  doers,  and  not 
for  those  who  live  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God.  So  a 
little  reflection  will  satisfy  you  that  the  old  Bible  method 
of  salvation  is  not  only  the  true  one,  but  the  only  one  that 
can  make  you  happy.  It  is  admitted  men  are  sinners.  It 
is  admitted  sin  deserves  punishment.  It  is  admitted  that 
as  sinners  our  consciences  trouble  us.  How,  then,  can  we 
be  saved  from  sin?  How  can  we  be  saved  from  the  guilt 
and  consequent  terrors  of  a  guilty  conscience  ?  Does  it 
seem  to  you  that  the  best  way  is  to  set  to  work  to  prove 
that  there  is  no  evil  in  sin — that  God  is  top  good  to  punish 
sin — that  the  terror  of  conscience  is  owing  altogether  to 
the  prejudices  of  education?  Certainly  not.  Tacts,  re- 
alities, every  one's  own  experience,  prove  that  such  at- 
tempts are  vain.  These  things  are  not  fancies,  but  dread- 
ful realities.  Does  it  seem  to  you,  then,  that  the  way  of 
escape  from  sin  and  from  the  wretchedness  of  a  guilty 
conscience  is  to  spend  your  life  in  trying  to  get  arguments 
and  facts  to  prove  that  there  is  no  hell,  no  devil,  and  no 
everlasting  punishment  ?  The  very  fact  that  some  men 
spend  all  their  lives  trying  to  prove  that  there  is  no  hell, 
no  devil,  and  no  everlasting  punishment,  proves,  after  all, 
that  they  themselves  are  dreadfully  afraid  of  these  very 
things.  Now  there  is  a  more  excellent  way — a  way  more 
philosophical,  harmonious,  and  elevating — a  way  infinitely 
more  suitable  for  man,  and  honorable  to  the  laws  of  the 
universe  and  to  God.  This  way  is  to  acknowledge  what 
every  one  must  feel,  that  we  are  sinners  against  God  and 
deserve  his  wrath,  and  then  accept  of  Jesus  Christ  as  He 


ORTHODOX  FAITH  TRIUMPHANT.         245 

is  offered  in  the  Gospel,  as  a  perfect,  all-sufficient  Saviour. 
It  is  true,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  sin,  and  that  it  is  an  evil 
and  bitter  thing.  But  here  is  a  sacrifice  for  sin  which 
God  accepts.  He  hath  made  Him,  His  own  Son,  who 
knew  no  sin,  to  he  made  sin — a  sin-offering — an  availing 
sin-atonement  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  in  Him.  Who,  then,  can  condemn  us  \  It 
is  God  that  justifieth.  It  is  true,  there  is  a  devil,  and  a 
hell,  and  everlasting  punishment ;  but  we  have  no  fear  of 
these  things.  Christ  has  delivered  us.  It  is  true,  by  na- 
ture and  practice,  we  have  a  guilty  conscience,  but  we 
are  saved  from  its  terrors  through  faith  in  Christ,  whose 
blood  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin,  and  whose  Spirit  renews 
our  hearts,  and  purifies  our  affections,  and  prepares  us  for 
His  glory.  Sickness  and  death,  the  devil,  hell,  and  ever- 
lasting punishment,  are  sad  realities ;  but  they  are  not  to 
De  feared  by  us.  Death  is  a  conquered  enemy ;  the  grave 
a  vanquished  foe.  The  devil  is  overcome  and  his  works 
destroyed,  and  we  are  translated  from  his  kingdom  into 
that  of  God's  dear  Son.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  those 
who  reject  Christ  as  a  world-redeeming  God,  and  who 
deny  the  personality  and  influence  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and 
laugh  at  the  idea  of  being  born  again,  and  of  being  saved 
by  faith  in  a  vicarious  atonement,  are  so  unhappy,  so  much 
annoyed  by  a  guilty  conscience,  that  they  can  never  satisfy 
themselves  with  their  own  arguments  that  there  is  no 
devil,  no  hell,  and  no  future  and  everlasting  punishment. 
The  happiest  and  bravest  men  have  ever  been  those  that, 
believing  in  the  realities  of  their  enemies,  have  adopted 
such  means  as  enabled  them  to  triumph  over  them,  and 
not  such  as  have  spent  their  lives  in  vain  expedients  to 


LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

try  to  prove  that  there  were  no  such  enemies.  Which  is 
best,  to  cheat  one's  self  into  a  delusion,  or  to  believe  in 
disagreeable  realities,  and  adopt  the  sure  and  certain 
method  of  escape  ?  And  the  more  so,  since  religion  is  a 
present  blessing.  Godliness  has  the  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come.  The 
blessings  of  piety  are  not  all  reserved  for  the  world  to 
come.  Her  ways  are  ways  of  peace  in  this  world,  and  all 
her  paths  are  paths  of  pleasantness.  Seek  ye  the  king- 
dom or  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  things  need- 
ful shall  be  added  unto  you.    Amen. 


THE  KING'S  FIDELITY.— CITY'S  DOOM.  247 


LECTUEE  XII. 


WEIGHED   AND   WANTING. 


On  Dan.,  v.,  25,  31. 
u  Tekel — Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balances,  and  art  found  wanting." 

Belshazzar's  Fidelity  to  his  Word. — Defenseless  State  of  the  City. — Nations  die 
Suicides — Couture"1 's  Decadence  of  the  Romans. — Egypt's  Doom. —  Our  Safe- 
ty.— How  and  why  Righteousness  exalteth  a  Nation. — National  Responsibility 
of  American  young  Men. — God  Weighs  all  Men. — Art  of  Writing  in  Moses' 
Day. — Egyptian  Book  of  the  Dead. — Bible  does  not  fix  the  Chronology  of  the 
Creation,  but  only  the  Facts  of  its  Creation  and  Adaptation  to  Man. —  Objec- 
tions to  the  Flood — Size  of  the  Ark. — Top  of  Ararat. — Quantity  of  Water. 
— Style  and  Proportion  of  the  Ark. — Sum  of  Proofs  of  a  Deluge. —  Wrath 
upon  the  Canaanites. — Eerculaneum. — Famine  in  Ireland. — Spirit  of  the 
Psalms  not  Maledictory. — Infidelity  dangerous  to  the  State. — The  Moral  Man 
wanting. — Salvation  by  Grace  does  not  lead  to  Sin. — True  Religion  eminently 
conducive  to  present  Happiness. —  Orthodox  Creed  eminently  the  safest  for  the 
Future. — Fearfulness  of  our  personal  Responsibility. 

1.  The  first  thing  that  strikes  me  from  the  history  as  it 
opens  before  us  in  the  text,  is  the  fidelity  of  King  Bel- 
shazzar.  Though  he  had  but  an  hour  to  live,  he  kept  his 
promise  to  the  servant  of  God.  See  v.  29.  Luxurious, 
profane,  and  wicked  as  he  was,  this  was  one  good  trait 
in  his  character.  This  one  good  trait  did  not,  however, 
redeem  him  from  the  consequences  of  other  sin. 

II.  We  are  struck  with  the  defenseless  condition  of  the 
city.  We  see  how  maddened  and  utterly  feeble  cities  and 
nations  hecome  w/ien  ripe  for  destruction.  After  a  siege 
of  more  than  two  years,  the  king  and  his  lords,  instead 
of  watching  and  resisting  the  attack  of  their  sleepless  be- 


248  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

siegers,  were  engaged  in  a  profane  revelry,  and  were  sur- 
prised and  slain,  and  the  city  taken.  And  thus  ended 
the  golden  empire,  of  which  Nebuchadnezzar  was  the 
head.  The  heathen  proverb  that  "  Those  whom  the  gods 
wish  to  destroy  they  first  make  mad,"  seems  to  contain 
the  verity  of  actual  history.  In  both  ancient  and  modern 
times,  it  seems  that,  when  God  has  pronounced  the  hour 
of  a  nation's  doom,  the  inhabitants  of  that  nation  lose  the 
caution,  the  skill,  and  the  energy  they  had  exhibited  be- 
fore, and  do  themselves  precipitate  the  very  result  they 
wish  so  much  to  avert.  Never,  perhaps,  was  there  a 
more  full,  palpable,  and  fearful  illustration  of  this  than  in 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  under  Titus.  Some  of  you 
may  remember  the  illustration  presented  in  a  previous 
lecture  of  the  causes  of  a  nation's  decline  and  fall,  as  set 
forth  in  Couture's  "  Decadence  of  the  Romans,"  in  the 
Luxembourg  Gallery  at  Paris.  In  his  picture,  life-like 
and  true  to  history,  luxury  and  corruption  are  represented 
as  the  causes  of  the  fall  of  Rome.  Nations  rarely  fall 
before  a  foreign  aggressor.  Their  ruin  or  their  glory  is 
placed  by  God  within  themselves.  Epidemics  and  want, 
and  even  civil  wars,  may  overturn  nations,  but  do  not 
destroy  them.  These  calamities  may  lessen  their  power, 
diminish  their  influence,  narrow  their  limits,  but  they  do 
not  blot  them  out  from  the  map  of  nations.  Nations  die 
suicides.  Nothing  so  soon  dissolves  the  national  charac- 
ter as  luxury.  It  is  worse  than  flood  or  fire.  It  hurts 
not  the  trade  or  agriculture  of  a  people  so  much  as  it 
hurts  themselves.  It  produces  a  degenerate  set  of  men. 
All  history  shows  that  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  national 
evils.     It  is  even  worse  that  the  temporary  loss  of  free- 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  OUR  ONLY  SAFETY.  249 

dom  to  a  brave  and  resolute  people.  It  is  corruption  and 
vice  that  cut  off  nations  by  the  root.  It  is  infidelity  and 
credulity  that  so  far  materialize  men  as  to  smother  all 
their  generous  instincts,  and  thus  destroy  their  nation- 
alities and  annihilate  them.  It  was  thus  Egypt,  once  so 
powerful  and  flourishing,  passed,  impoverished,  into  the 
hands  of  the  Mohammedan,  and  became,  and  continues 
to  this  day,  according  to  the  predictions  of  the  Hebrew 
prophet,  the  basest  of  kingdoms.  It  was  thus  Babylon 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Mede-  A  nation  true  to  God 
and  loyal  to  his  laws,  and  with  such  a  history  and  such  a 
local  habitation  as  we  have,  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
world  in  arms.  But  we  have  a  great  deal  to  fear  from 
Jesuitism,  and  from  corruption  and  ignorance.  Our 
safety  consists  in  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box  ;  and  to  pre- 
serve this,  we  must  employ  the  press  in  all  its  thousand- 
fold avenues  to  the  popular  mind  ;  and  true  religion  must 
irradiate  our  high  places,  and  cast  its  softening  influence 
over  the  lanes,  and  alleys,  and  hovels  of  our  cities,  and 
over  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  all  our  States  and  Ter- 
ritories. There  are  two  great  reasons  why  righteousness 
exalteth  a  nation,  and  why  society  cannot  cohere  without 
religion.  These  are,  first,  that  when  a  due  regard  to  God 
is  lost  sight  of  in  the  institutions  of  a  nation,  or  in  the 
administration  of  its  affairs,  a  jarring  inevitably  ensues 
between  the  laws  and  doings  of  that  nation  and  the 
universe,  of  which  it  is  a  part.  This  want  of  harmony — ■ 
this  want  of  conformity  to  the  order  of  God's  government 
— must  result  in  disaster.  And  as  the  government  of 
God  cannot  be  subverted,  every  government  opposed  to 
the  divine  must  in  time  fall.     A  second  reason  is,  that  all 


250  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

constitutions  and  laws  not  in  harmony  with  the  universe 
are  unsuited  to  the  people  placed  under  them  ;  and  con- 
sequently, discontent,  restiveness,  and  insurrection  will 
inevitably  arise,  sooner  or  later.  If  there  be  not  a  har- 
mony and  adaptation  in  the  laws  and  institutions  of  a 
country  for  the  wants  of  a  people,  it  is  impossible  there 
should  be  permanence  in  its  polity.  It  is,  then,  a  matter 
of  incalculable  importance  to  the  happiness  of  mankind 
that  civil  government  should  be  conducted  on  religious 
principles.  And  next  to  the  salvation  of  their  own  souls, 
is  the  responsibility  of  American  young  men  to  study 
the  purity,  vigor,  and  perpetuity  of  their  civil  institutions. 
It  is  their  duty  to  see  that  men  of  sound  religious  prin- 
ciples and  proper  abilities  be  elevated  to  offices  of  power 
and  trust.  As  the  principle  of  immortality  in  man  con- 
sists in  his  capacity  of  knowing,  fearing,  serving,  and 
loving  God,  so  is  religion  the  principle  of  durability  in 
social  bodies.  When  the  Ship  of  State  is  far  out  at  sea, 
and  amid  the  darkness  of  night,  and  tempests  are  raging, 
there  is  then  nothing  on  which  to  fix  the  eye  but  the 
eternal  lights  of  heaven ;  then  the  only  sure  compass  is 
the  Word  of  God.  It  was  very  reprehensible,  certainly, 
for  Belshazzar  and  his  thousand  lords  to  abandon  the  de- 
fense of  the  city  as  they  did.  They  showed  themselves 
to  be  unworthy  of  the  government  of  such  a  city.  Little, 
indeed,  did  they  think  what  would  be  on  the  morrow. 
Little  did  they  think  that  the  last  hours  of  Babylon  had 
come — that  the  remaining  sands  in  the  glass  of  her  des- 
tiny would  be  emptied  ere  their  banquet  should  close. 
But  before  another  rising  sun,  the  monarch  was  slain,  his 
nobles  captives,  and  Darius  the  Mede  was  sitting  on  the 


THE  SUPREME  WEIGHING  OF  MEN".  251 

throne  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  in  the  great  Babylon  which 
ne  had  built.  And  so,  when  the  hour  allotted  for  the 
downfall  of  an  empire  or  of  a  dominion,  political  or  eccle- 
siastical, has  come,  the  wheels  of  Providence  will  move 
with  an  irresistible  power,  and  with  a  fearful  velocity ; 
and  then  all  attempts  to  keep  back  the  tide  of  divine  in- 
dignation will  but  increase  its  fury.  The  upholders  of  a 
doomed  system  always  act  like  doomed  men.  The  ill- 
timed,  impious  feasting  of  Belshazzar  did  more  in  one 
night  for  the  downfall  of  Babylon  than  Cyrus  with  all  his 
troops  was  able  to  accomplish  in  a  siege  of  two  years.  It 
is  an  awful  thing  for  an  individual  or  nation  to  be  aban- 
doned of  God. 

III.  The  Bible  represents  God  as  weighing  all  men,  all 
their  motives  and  characters.  It  is  a  common  scriptural 
expression:  "The  Lord  is  a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by 
Him  actions  are  weighed."  David  also  says :  "  Men  of 
low  degree  are  vanity,  and  men  of  high  degree  are  a  lie ; 
to  be  laid  in  the  balance  they  are  altogether  wanting." 
The  Prophet  Isaiah  says  :  "  Thou  most  upright  dost  weigh 
the  path  of  the  just."  And,  again,  Solomon  tells  us,  "  All 
the  ways  of  a  man  are  clean  in  his  own  eyes ;  but  the 
Lord  weigheth  the  Spirit."  These  texts  are  sufficient  to 
show  that  the  idea  contained  in  the  inscription  on  the 
palace  wall  is  one  frequently  found  in  Scripture.  It  is 
also  found  in  heathen  mythology.  It  is  a  common  idea 
in  the  proverbs  of  the  Arabs  to  this  day.  The  terms  of 
the  inscription  are  sufficiently  explained  by  Daniel  him- 
self, and  need  no  extended  commentary. 

The  idea  of  being  weighed  by  the  Judge  of  quick  and 
dead  at  his  judgment-seat  in  reference  to  our  eternal 


252  :  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

destiny,  is  certainly  a  fearful  one.  Who  can  think  of 
being  weighed  against  God's  law  ?  This  law  says;  "  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy 
strength,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  And  it  says, 
"  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things 
written  in  the  law  to  do  them."  The  requirements  of 
God's  law  are  absolute,  perpetual,  supreme.  It  requires 
all  the  heart,  and  at  all  times,  and  allows  of  no  cessation, 
of  its  love  and  obedience.  This  law  is  placed  in  one  scale, 
and  every  man's  character  is  placed  in  the  opposite  scale, 
and  thus  every  man's  doom  is  to  be  fixed,  and  that  for- 
ever. What,  then,  have  we  to  place  in  the  scales  of  the 
sanctuary  ?  One  is  ready  to  say,  "  I  have  not  kept  the 
law  of  God,  but  I  place  in  the  opposite  scale  my  objections 
to  it.  Indeed,  I  object  to  the  law  of  God  and  the  revel- 
ation of  His  will,  and  the  whole  subject  of  Bible  religion ; 
and  I  do  so  for  several  reasons."  Well,  let  us  hear  them. 
First.  "The  law  of  God  so  called  is  contained  in  the 
book  called  the  Bible,  and  the  first  five  books  of  the  Bible 
are  said  to  have  been  written  by  Moses ;  but  I  do  not 
believe  this,  for  in  the  days  of  Moses  the  art  of  writing 
was  not  known.  Man  was  not  then  sufficiently  advanced 
from  his  primitive  savageism  to  have  written  any  such 
books."  This  is  a  bold  and  clearly  stated  objection,  and 
if  it  is  as  true  and  heavy  as  it  claims  to  be,  it  will  certainly 
weigh  down  its  end  of  the  scale.  But  let  us  look  at  it. 
You  know  that  Napoleon  invaded  Egypt,  and  that  a  corps 
of  scientific  men  accompanied  his  army  to  examine  the 
hieroglyphics,  and  explore  in  the  most  thorough  manner 
possible  its  far-famed  antiquities  ;  and  you  know  that  they 


ART  OF  WRITING.— EGYPTIAN  TOMBS.  253 

climbed  the  Pyramids  and  entered  the,  tombs,  and  visited 
the  chambers  of  Egypt's  embalmed  kings ;  and  you  ought 
to  know,  also,  that  in  these  sepulchral,  chambers  they 
found  many  manuscripts  as  old  at  least  as  the  time  of 
Moses,  and  one  which  it  is  believed  was  written  two  cen- 
turies before  his  day.  These  manuscripts  were  found 
with  the  mummies  and  funeral  relics  which  were  deposit- 
ed in  the  tombs.  They  have  been  read  and  published  to 
the  world.  They  contain  their  burial  service  and  rites 
for  the  dead.  And  thus  the  matter-of-fact  discovery  of. 
the  French  savans  have  silenced  the  objection  that  infidels 
made  for  centuries  against  the  Pentateuch.  It  is  only 
with  the  ignorant  or  malicious  that  such  objections  can 
now  do  their  mischievous  work. 

Secondly,  "It  is  alleged  that  the  Bible  cannot  be  relied 
on  as  teaching  the  will  of  God,  for  it  asserts  that  the  world 
was  made  about  six  thousand  years  ago.  This  cannot  be 
true,  for  the  learned  now  tell  us  that  this  world  must  have 
existed  millions  of  ages."  In  weighing  this  objection,  let 
it  be  observed  that  it  is  not  correctly  stated.  The  Bible 
does  not  say  that  God  created  the  world  about  six  thou- 
and  years  ago.  Moses  says  nothing  on  this  point.  He 
only  tells  us  that  in  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth.  The  beginning  may  have  been  millions 
of  millions  of  ages  anterior  to  man's  creation.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  Moses  only  designs  to  speak  of  two  great  facts; 
first,  that  God  is  the  Creator  of  all  things ;  and  secondly, 
that  God  prepared  and  adapted,  according  to  his  account, 
the  globe  for  the  introduction  of  man  upon  it.  In  the 
second  place,  let  it  be  remembered  that  geologists  are 
crude,  unsatisfactory,  and  contradictory  still  in  their  spec- 


254  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

ulations  aoout  the  age  of  the  earth.  They  are  not  agreed 
among  themselves.  They  are  guilty  of  monstrous  errors 
in  mnch  of  their  past  reasoning,  themselves  being  judges. 
There  is  a  great  want  of  facts  among  them.  And,  thirdly, 
their  investigations  have  resulted  in  the  conviction  that 
the  human  race  cannot  have  existed  on  this  globe  for  a 
longer  period  than  that  asserted  by  Moses.  And  thus 
science,  in  the  hands  of  the  most  eminent  geologists, 
instead  of  contradicting  the  Mosaic  account,  gives  what- 
ever influences  she  has  in  its  favor.  "  Thou  art  weighed 
in  the  balances,  and  art  found  wanting." 

Thirdly.  Another  says,  "  There  is  so  much  about  the 
deluge  in  the  Pentateuch  that  I  do  not  understand,  that 
I  object  to  the  whole  Bible,  and  to  revealed  religion  al- 
together. There  was  not  water  enough  to  drown  the 
world.  The  ark  was  not  large  enough  to  contain  one 
half  of  the  animals  for  which  it  was  intended ;  and  it  was 
such  a  miserable,  clumsy  old  hulk  that  it  could  not  have 
floated  any  how,  and  if  it  did  ever  get  to  the  top  of  Ararat, 
there  is  so  much  ice  and  snow  there  that  old  Noah  could 
never  have  descended.  I  do  not  understand  these  things, 
and  therefore  I  do  not  believe  in  evangelical  religion." 
There  is  so  much  crowded  into  this  objection,  that  only  a 
word  or  two  can  be  spared  for  each  point. 

I.  You  do  not  understand  all  the  points  involved  in  the 
history  of  the  flood ;  neither  do  I,  nor  any  one  else.  The 
most  eminent  scholars  and  geologists  confess  their  ignor- 
ance on  this  subject.  But  your  want  of  understanding  is 
certainly  no  good  reason  for  denying  the  truth  of  the  Jiis- 
tory.  You  do  not  understand  your  own  existence.  There 
are  a  thousand  things  all  around  you  that  are  unques- 


ARARAT.— ANIMALS  IN  THE  ARK.  255 

tioned  realities,  and  yet  you  do  not  understand  them. 
There  are  mysteries  in  nature  as  well  as  in  religion.  Holy 
mysteries  are  rather  a  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  than 
otherwise.  If  you  will  not  receive  as  true  any  thing  till 
you  can  comprehend  every  thing  about  its  essence  and 
laws  of  existence,  then  you  will  perish  of  starvation,  for 
you  must  inevitably  die  before  you  can  comprehend  the 
analysis  of  your  food,  and  how  it  sustains  the  animal 
economy. 

II.  As  to  the  top  of  Ararat,  it  is  admitted  that  the  term 
Ararat  signifies  a  whole  chain  of  mountains.  Noah  may 
not,  therefore,  have  had  so  far  to  descend.  The  ark  prob- 
ably rested  on  one  of  the  lower  spurs  of  that  mountain 
range.  It  may,  moreover,  not  have  been  so  cold  just 
after  the  flood  as  it  is  now  in  Armenia ;  and  besides, 
could  not  the  same  God  that  piloted  him  over  the  seas 
have  helped  him  down  from  the  highest  snowy  peak  of 
all  Ararat? 

III.  As  to  the  size  of  the  ark,  it  is  ascertained  that  it 
was  about  as  large  as  eighteen  of  the  largest  ships  of  our 
day. 

The  distinct  species  of  four-footed  animals  known  amount 
to  but  about  two  hundred  and  fifty.  These  eighteen  ships 
will  carry  twenty  thousand  men,  with  eighteen  hundred 
pieces  of  cannon,  and  provisions  for  six  months.  Who 
then  can  for  a  moment  doubt  that  the  ark,  built,  not  for  a 
clipper  race  from  Shanghai  to  London — not  for  speed  nor 
for  beauty,  but  merely  for  buoyancy  and  strength,  would 
aflford  accommodations  for  these  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pairs  of  quadrupeds,  with  the  specified  number  of  birds 
and  insects,  and  eight  human  beings,  with  provisions  for 


256  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

a  year  \  It  seems  almost  like  trilling  to  answer  such 
arguments,  and  yet  deists  are  scattering  them  about 
among  the  ignorant  and  the  credulous  as  powerful  objec- 
tions to  the  credibility  of  the  Scriptures.  The  fact  is,  as 
stated  by  Bishop  Wilkins,  "  That  of  the  two  it  is  more 
difficult  to  assign  a  number  and  bulk  of  necessary  things 
to  answer  to  the  capacity  of  the  ark,  than  to  find  sufficient 
room  for  the  several  species  of  animals  and  their  food 
already  known  to  have  been  there." 

There  is  one  very  interesting  fact  in  this  connection 
deserving  of  notice.  "  It  can  be  proved  to  demonstration 
that  the  proportion  of  the  length  to  the  breadth,  and  of 
both  to  the  height,  in  Noah's  ark,  is  exactly  that  which 
renders  any  substance  the  most  buoyant  and  the  most 
perfectly  secure  even  in  a  storm."  Now  it  is  a  question 
really  deserving  of  thought,  how  did  Noah  obtain  such 
skill  in  architectural  dimensions  ?  It  has  been  the  result 
of  long  experience  and  careful  observation  by  which 
architects  of  the  present  day  have  obtained  this  knowl- 
edge. It  has  not  come  to  them  intuitively.  How  then 
does  it  happen  that  Noah,  so  long  ago,  was  so  accom- 
plished a  ship-builder?  The  deist  cannot  answer — the 
Bible  believer  has  no  difficulty. 

IV.  As  to  the  quantity  of  water,  it  is  somewhat  difficult 
to  know  what  to  say  to  a  man  who  has  such  crooked 
ideas  of  Omnipotence  as  to  think  that  He  who  made  all 
worlds  and  all  oceans  is  unable  to  roll  a  flood  of  waters 
over  this  little  globe.  But  frivolous  as  such  objections 
are,  they  are  not  unanswerable.  Bold  assertions  are  not 
arguments.  First  It  is  not  believed  by  all  Bible  readers 
that  the  deluge  was  universal.     I  so  understand  the  He- 


WATER  ENOUGH  FOR  THE  DELUGE.       257 

brew  record ;  but  some  others  read  it  differently.  Second- 
ly. Nearly  three-fourths  of  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe 
are  now  covered  with  water ;  and  how  much  more  water 
the  Creator  could  pour  upon  the  land  has  never  yet  been 
accurately  determined.  Nor  has  it  ever  been  shown  that 
the  Creator  could  not  so  sink  the  portions  of  land  now 
dry  as  to  cover  them  with  water — just  such  a  process  as 
was  probably  carried  out  in  the  flood.  Thirdly.  The 
fact  of  a  deluge  is  certain.  Tradition,  history,  and  geo- 
logy prove  there  must  have  been  such  a  thing,  and  all 
agree  in  fixing  the  time  about  the  period  assigned  to 
Noah's  flood  in  the  Bible.  The  rocks,  caverns,  and  moun- 
tains of  the  earth  must  have  been  at  some  former  period 
covered  with  water.  How  else  can  we  account  for  skele- 
tons of  whales  on  the  sides  of  high  mountains,  far  from 
the  ocean  ?  How  else  can  we  account  for  the  remains  of 
animals,. in  the  frigid  regions  of  the  North,  that  can  live 
only  in  the  torrid  zone  ?  All  science  testifies  that  some 
great  convulsion  has  taken  place  in  our  planet.  The  fact 
that  there  has  been  a  deluge  is  written  in  living  charac- 
ters upon  the  face  of  nature.  If  you  could  blot  out  the 
record  from  the  Bible,  still  the  evidence  remains  indis- 
putable. This  objection,  when  weighed  in  the  balances, 
like  the  others  we  have  had  before  it,  is  found  wanting. 

Fourth.  Another  says,  "I  do  not  believe  the  Bible  to 
be  the  Word  of  God,  because  the  Hebrews  were  ordered 
to  urge  an  exterminating  war  upon  the  Canaanites.  Men, 
women,  and  children  were  put  to  death.  It  is  impossible 
to  believe  that  God  would  issue  such  a  command."  In 
weighing  this  objection,  our  first  remark  is,  that  God  may 

use  whatever  instruments  he  pleases  for  the  execution  of 

17 


258  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

his  judgments.  In  point  of  fact,  He  does  use  pestilence 
and  famine,  fire,  flood,  and  earthquake  ;  why  may  He  not 
also  use  the  sword?  Was  it  not  God  that  sent  disease 
into  the  esculent  roots  of  Ireland;  and,  for  the  want  of 
their  accustomed  food,  men,  women,  and  children  died  ? 
"Was  it  not  God  who  poured  an  ocean  of  burning  lava  on 
Herculaneum  and  Pompeii  ?  Then,  neither  age  nor  in- 
fancy, neither  mother  nor  babe,  was  spared.  All  were 
overwhelmed  in  indiscriminate  destruction.  Was  it  not 
God  that  shook  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  opened 
one  wide  grave  for  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  Lis- 
bon ?  What  but  the  providence  of  God  sent  the  Asiatic 
cholera  into  the  cities  and  towns,  and  along  the  river 
coasts  of  Europe  and  America,  sparing  neither  age,  sex, 
nor  color  ?  In  point  of  fact,  then,  this  objection  is  just  as 
powerful  against  the  God  of  nature  as  against  the  God  of 
Revelation.  Even,  therefore,  if  we  could  see  no  reason 
why  God  should  exterminate  the  Canaanites,  we  are  not 
at  liberty  to  cavil  at  the  fact,  any  more  than  at  the  devas- 
tations of  earthquakes,  floods,  pestilence,  and  famine. 
But,  secondly,  we  do  see  a  reason.  Their  cup  of  iniquity 
was  full.  Their  day  of  grace  and  of  probation  was  ended. 
They  were  abandoned  to  the  most  polluting  idolatry. 
Their  destruction  was,  therefore,  nothing  but  the  execu- 
tion of  the  divine  penalty  upon  their  sins.  It  will  not 
be  denied  that  God  has  a  right  to  exterminate  an  aban- 
doned nation  in  any  way  that  shall  seem  best  to  him, 
either  by  flood,  or  pestilence,  or  famine,  or  sword.  In 
point  of  fact,  He  has  often  done  this.  Nor  will  it  be 
denied  that,  in  so  doing,  God  may  inflict  the  judgment  in 
such  a  way  as  to  produce  the  deepest  impression  of  the 


IMPRECATIONS  IN  THE  PSALMS.  259 

enormity  of  sin  npon  the  minds  of  those  that  survive. 
This  objection  is,  therefore,  found  wanting. 

Fifthly.  It  is  objected,  again,  "That  the  Psalms,  which 
are  conspicuous  in  Christian  worship,  and  much  read  and 
admired  by  Christians,  are  nothing  but  the  ravings  of 
malice  or  of  personal  revenge.  David,  or  whoever  was 
the  author  of  the  Psalms,  instead  of  forgiving  his  enemies, 
and  praying  that  God  would  bless  them,  imprecates  ven- 
geance upon  their  heads  ;  and  yet  it  is  said  in  the  Bible 
that  the  Psalms  are  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  Now 
in  answer  to  this,  let  it  be  remembered, 

1.  That  in  many  of  those  passages  in  which  David  uses 
strong  language  against  his  enemies,  he  refers  not  to 
personal  or  political  enemies — not  to  his  fellow-men  as 
enemies  of  his  body,  of  his  family,  or  of  his  kingdom,  but 
to  the  enemies  of  his  soul,  those  that  were  seeking  to  de- 
prive him  of  his  salvation.  He  speaks  of  the  devil,  and 
evil  spirits,  and  wicked  men  as  instruments  of  the  devil. 

2.  The  words  which  are  rendered  in  our  version  in  the 
imperative  mood  and  present  tense  are,  in  the  Hebrew, 
in  the  indicative  mood  and  future  tense.  The  passages, 
then,  simply  declare  what  will  befall  the  incorrigibly 
wicked  and  finally  impenitent.  David  was  a  prophet, 
and  foresaw  the  end  of  the  wicked  and  of  all  that  forget 
God. 

3.  Let  us  suppose  a  horrid  murder  was  committed  at 
our  very  door.  The  axe  and  the  knife  of  robbers  have 
covered  the  floor  of  our  friend's  dwelling  with  the  mangled 
bodies  of  the  family.  A  Christian  man,  appalled  by  such 
a  horrid  spectacle,  prayed,  in  the  fervor  of  his  morning 
prayer,  "  O  God,  bring  these  guilty  men  to  justice!  0  let 


* 


• 


260  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

them  not  escape  I  let  swift  retribution  overtake  them  ;  let 
them  suffer  just  punishment  for  their  crime,  that  the  honor 
of  our  laws  may  be  preserved,  and  that  terror  may  fill 
the  hearts  of  the  wicked."     And  does  the  infidel  cry  out, 
"  What  a  revengeful,  malicious  wretch  this  man  must  be ! 
Instead  of  praying  that  these  murderers  may  escape  and  be 
prospered,  he  prays  that  they  may  be  brought  to  justice?" 
And  is  this  really  the  issue  ?    Does  the  infidel  mean  that 
a  good  man  ought  not  to  pray  that  the  laws  should  be 
honored,  magistrates  obeyed,  the  innocent  protected,  and 
the  guilty  brought  to  punishment,  in  order  that  peace  and 
justice  may  reign  over  society?"    Is  it  out  at  last  that 
infidelity  is  dangerous  to  the  state,  and  at  war  with  estab- 
lished public  morals,  order,  and  law  ?    Does  the  caviller 
really  think  that  it  is  wicked  to  pray  that  those  who  are 
scattering  fire-brands,  arrows,  and  death  through  the  com- 
munity, may  be  shut  up  in  prison,  and  punished  accord- 
ing to  law  and  justice  ?     If  so,  then  all  law,  all  established 
order,  is  .malignant  and  to  be  put  down.     But  mankind 
have  determined  to  the  contrary.     Their  experience  is, 
that  established  laws,  enforced  by  penalties,  are  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  happiness  of  mankind.     The  same  is 
distinctly  taught  in  the  Bible.     And  observation  teaches 
us,  moreover,  that  those  who  receive  the  Bible,  and  live 
under  the  conviction  of  a  judgment  to  come,  and  a  belief 
in  future  rewards  and  punishments,  are  the  best  citizens, 
bravest  soldiers,  and  purest  patriots  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  those  that  have  the  impudence  and  arrogance  to 
assert  that  God  is  too  good  to  punish  men  for  their  sins 
by  shutting  them  up  in  the  prison  of  hell,  are  dangerous 
men  in  society.     He  that  fears  God,  regards  his  fellow 


THE  MORAL  MAN  WEIGHED.  261 

man.  Both  worlds  are  best  cared  for  when  they  are  taken 
care  of  together,  and  the  present  life  is  made  a  preparation 
for  the  life  to  come. 

Sixthly.  Another  says,  "I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
these  absurd  infidel  cavils  you  have  named.  I  would  not 
consider  them  worthy  of  any  serious  notice.  I  am  just  in 
all  my  dealings  with  my  fellow-men.  I  owe  no  man  any 
thing.  I  try  to  do  my  duty  as  a  good  citizen."  And  we 
will  add,  that  such  an  one  is  all  he  claims  to  be,  and  even 
more ;  he  is  high-minded,  honorable,  generous,  and  char- 
acterized by  every  social,  personal,  national,  and  domestic 
excellence.  But  what  is  the  result,  when  all  these  social 
virtues,  and  all  this  public  spirit,  and  all  this  commercial 
integrity  (and  would  to  God  that  such  things  were  more 
common,)  are  placed  in  the  scale  opposite  to  the  holy, 
unchanging,  everlasting  law  of  God?  The  experiment 
will  inevitably  show  that  "by  the  deeds  of  the  law  no 
man  living  can  be  justified."  Then  will  the  Judge  say, 
It  is  true  you  have  done  well,  but  you  have  not  done  all 
your  duty.  You  have  done  justly  toward  man,  but  how 
stands  the  account  in  reference  to  your  Creator?  You 
have  acted  generously  toward  society,  but  how  have  you 
acted  toward  God  ?  You  have  kept  the  last  six  command- 
ments, but  what  have  you  done  with  the  four  first  f  If 
you  have  kept  the  second  table  of  the  law,  why  have  you 
broken  the  first  ?  Have  you  loved  your  neighbor  as  your- 
self? Have  you  loved  God  all  your  life-long,  every  mo- 
ment, With  ALL  Y0TJR  HEART,  MIND,  AND  STRENGTH  ?      If  not, 

then  you  are  found  wanting.  But  is  not  the  case  better 
with  this  man's  neighbor,  who,  in  addition  to  such  amiable 
instincts,  and  social  virtues,  and  business  traits,  is  a  re- 


262  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

gular  baptized  member  of  the  Church*  ?  He  is  strict  in 
all  his  religious  duties ;  he  always  bows  at  the  name  of 
Jesus — wears  black  on  Good  Friday,  and  dresses  in  white 
upon  Easter  Sunday — is  never  absent  from  confession,  or 
vespers,  or  communion ;  he  is  at  the  prayer-meeting,  the 
Bible  class,  the  Sabbath-school,  and  can  repeat  the  Creed, 
the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Surely, 
such  an  one  will  weigh  well  in  the  scales  of  the  sanctuary. 
Alas !  it  is  nowhere  written  in  the  law  that  such  things 
as  these  will  be  taken  as  substitutes  for  obedience  to  the 
will  of  God,  and  for  the  want  of  the  devotion  of  the  heart 
to  Him.  The  law  of  God  is  not  satisfied  with  forms  and 
ceremonies ;  the  rubrics  do  not  silence  the  thundering 
sound  of  the  Judge's  solemn  voice,  saying,  Who  hath  re- 
quired this  at  your  hand  ?  He  hath  required  love.  You 
reply,  I  have  done  penance  ;  I  have  performed  this  good 
work ;  and  you  are  weighed  and  found  altogether  want- 
ing. Nor  will  it  at  all  alter  your  case  to  say,  I  am  sincere 
in  my  views.  Sincerity  added  to  heresy  does  not  make 
it  true.  No  doubt  there  are  sincere  unbelievers,  as  there 
are  sincere  Moslems  and  sincere  madmen.  Saul  of  Tarsus 
said,  "  I  verily  thought  that  I  ought  to  do  many  things 
contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus."  He  was  as  sincere  in  his 
persecution  of  Christians  before  his  conversion  as  he  was 
sincere  in  his  preaching  the  Gospel  and  suffering  for  it 
afterward.  Sincerity  deserves  to  be  treated  with  respect 
and  pity ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  sincerity  can  make 
error  truth,  or  save  us  from  the  consequences  of  our  errors. 
Our  accountability  rests  in  the  use  of  the  means  given  us 
for  the  discovery  of  the  truth.  The  matter  is  brought 
down  to  a  very  definite  point.     The  Bible  considers  all 


THE  WEIGHED  AND  "WANTING.  263 

under  sin.  The  Bible  says,  "  There  is  none  good,  no,  not 
one."  "  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  our- 
selves and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  There  is  no  one  that 
seriously  looks  at  his  heart  and  life,  and  the  requirements 
of  God's  holy  law,  who  does  not  feel,  a  If  thou,  O  Lord, 
shouldst  mark  iniquity,  who  would  stand  V  If  all  have 
sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God,  how,  then,  can 
we  meet  his  law  ?  Are  we  all  found  wanting,  and  brought 
under  the  fearful  inscription  Tekel  ?  Blessed  be  God, 
there  is  a  more  excellent  way.  "  God  is  just,  and  yet  the 
justifier  of  them  that  believe  in  Jesus."  "For  of  God 
Christ  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctifica- 
tion,  and  complete  redemption." 

"  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every 
one  that  believeth." 

"  God  hath  made  him  who  knew  no  sin  to  be  sin  for 
us,"  &c. 

Against  the  law,  therefore,  is  weighed  the  magnifier  of 
the  law.  Against  the  law,  with  its  infinite  demands,  is 
weighed  the  infinite  righteousness  of  him  that  made  it 
honorable.  Against  the  sin  of  disobeying  God's  law  is 
placed  the  blood  of  His  own  Son,  which  cleanseth  from 
all  sin.  Against  Mount  Sinai,  in  one  end  of  the  scale,  is 
placed  Calvary,  in  the  opposite  scale,  and  the  voice  of 
pardon  from  the  latter  prevails  over  the  thundering  and 
terrors  of  the  former.  "When  we  look  on  the  law,  the  in- 
scription impressed  upon  every  soul  is,  "  Weighed  and 
found  wanting.''  But  when  we  look  at  Christ,  who  is  our 
righteousness,  then  the  inscription,  "Tekel,"  is  washed 
away  in  his  precious  blood,  and  the  following  glorious 
and  illuminated  characters  are  inscribed  in  their  stead  * 


264  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

"  Therefore,  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  We  are  "  complete 
in  Christ,  without  spot  or  blemish,  or  any  such  thing." 

Who,  then,  are  weighed  and  found  wanting?  The 
atheist,  the  pagan,  the  unbeliever,  the  profane,  the  evil- 
doer, and  the  vicious.  "Whoremongers  and  idolaters 
God  will  judge."  "Drunkards  cannot  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God."  "  All  liars  shall  have  their  part  in  the 
lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone."  And  also 
all  the  impenitent  and  unbelieving ;  for  it  is  written, 
"  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  "  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God."  This  being  born  again  is  not  mere  baptism,  nor  is 
it  a  mere  outward  reformation.  It  is  a  total  transforma- 
tion of  character.  It  is  a  change  from^  darkness  and  sin 
to  a  state  of  light  and  holiness.  It  is  to  become  a  new 
creature.  Do  not  allow  yourselves,  my  young  friends,  to 
be  deceived  on  this  matter.  It  is  declared  to  be  an  essen- 
tial point  by  our  Lord  himself.  Men  may  laugh  at  re- 
generation, but  to  be  saved  we  must  be  converted.  And 
what  is  conversion?  It  is  not  seriousness — it  is  not  con- 
viction— it  is  not  conformity  to  any  mere  outward  require- 
ment, but  a  thorough,  inner,  radical  revolution  of  mind. 
It  is  not  a  change  of  the  features  of  the  face.  It  is  not  a 
revolution  of  the  intellect,  but  of  our  views,  preferences, 
wishes,  and  hopes.  It  is  not  an  ecstasy,  an  emotion,  or  a 
passion.  It  is  not  an  outcry — it  is  not  religious  excite- 
ment— it  is  not  ecclesiastical  zeal.  It  is  life  from  the 
dead ;  it  is  a  new  heart  and  a  right  spirit  within  us, 
created  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  is  sometimes  greatly  misrepresented.     Even  in 


EVIDENCES  OP  SALVATION.  335 

the  days  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  as  now,  it  was  charged  with 
leading  to  licentiousness ;  but  nothing  is  further  from  the 
truth.     The  whole  Gospel  method  of  salvation  comprises 
holiness  as  essential.     Without  holiness  no  man  can  see 
God ;  without  holiness  no  one  can  be  happy.     Christ  is 
called  Jesus,  because  he  saves  his  people  from  their  sins. 
Good  works  are  not  the  procuring  cause,  but  the  evi- 
dences of  our  salvation.     Penitence,  faith,  and  charity, 
and  holy  living,  are  essential  to  happiness.     Just  in  pro- 
portion that  men  are  vicious,  so  are  they  subjects  of 
misery.     All  men,  therefore,  who  are  living  in  the  prac- 
tice of  any  known,  deliberate,  and  voluntary  sin  are 
"weighed  and  found  wanting."     Creeds,  and  baptisms, 
and  confessions  of  faith  avail  nothing  without  a  living 
faith  in  Christ,  which,  while  it  justifies,  also  works  by  love. 
It  is  solemn  mockery  for  a  man  to  profess  his  faith  in 
Christ,  and  yet  live   in  disobedience  to  his  commands. 
Whoever  takes  the  name  of  Christ  upon  him,  must  be 
careful  to  maintain  good  works,  and  to  depart  from  all 
iniquity.    Do  not  imagine  that  you  are  a  Christian,  if  you 
harbor  deliberately  pride,  avarice,  ambition,  vain-glory, 
covetousness,  which  is  idolatry,  murdering,  discontent, 
bitterness,  lying,  evil-speaking,  and  slandering.    All  who 
knowingly  indulge  in  such  things  will  be  found  wanting 
when  weighed  by  the  Searcher  of  all  hearts. 

Never  forget  that  you  need  the  work  and  righteousness 
of  Christ,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  you  to  ^.t 
you  for  heaven.  Amiable  instincts,  commercial  virtues, 
and  social  excellences  are  praiseworthy.  These  things 
are  lovely  and  of  good  report,  and  are  earnestly  to  be 
coveted,  but  they  cannot  procure  the  pardon  of  sin.    They 


266  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

give  no  title  to  heaven,  nor  do  they  produce  any  fitness 
for  its  services.  Constitutional  morality  and  amiableness 
of  temper  often  exist  without  faith  and  penitence.  If 
constitutional  morality  and  amiableness  of  natural  dis- 
position entitle  us  to  heaven  and  prepare  us  for  its  glory, 
then  two  things  are  palpable.  First,  that  many  people 
cannot  in  any  way  or  on  any  account  ever  be  happy ;  for, 
without  inquiring  into  the  cause,  or  stopping  to  show  why 
it  is  so,  it  is  a  fact  that  many  people  are  born  with  indif- 
ferent moral  constitutions,  and  with  positively  bad  dis- 
positions. Secondly,  in  regard  to  those  that  are  more 
fortunate  by  birth  and  education,  there  was  no  necessity 
for  Christianity  at  all.  Mere  heathen  morals  are  suffi- 
cient, if  such  things  entitle  us  to,  or  prepare  us  for, 
heaven.  Then  Christ  died  in  vain ;  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
useless.  But  it  is  not  thus  you  read  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
"What  are  called  evangelical  sentiments  on  this  subject 
recommend  themselves  to  you  by  two  plain  and  powerful 
considerations.  First.  Such  sentiments  are  not  only  true 
and  clearly  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  and 
supported  by  a  large  majority  of  the  great,  the  learned, 
and  the  pious,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  but  they  are 
eminently  conducive  to  present  happiness.  Evangelical 
views  of  religion  are  pre-eminently  the  views  that  produce 
happiness  in  the  present  life.  The  reasons  of  this  are 
palpable.  Such  views  take  hold  of  present  realities,  and 
embrace  a  sufficient  remedy  for  present  evils.  This  is 
true  of  an  individual  man  and  of  the  human  race.  Such 
views  supply  an  antidote  for  earth's  sorrows.  They  fix 
the  mind  on  high  and  ever-enduring  sources  of  consola- 
tion ;  they  stay  the  heart  upon  God  ;  they  appease  the 


"WHAT  SENTIMENTS  ARE  BEST  AND  SAFEST.  267 

crying  of  the  human  soul  for  reconciliation  with  its  Maker. 
The  altars  and  victims  of  all  ages  and  of  all  races  are 
satisfied  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  All  things 
are  ours  in  Christ.  Peace  of  conscience  and  the  abundant 
fruits  of  the  Spirit  cannot  fail  to  make  a  happy  man.  In 
keeping  God's  laws  there  is  great  reward.  Godliness 
with  contentment  is  great  gain  in  the  present  world,  as 
well  as  in  the  world  to  come. 

But,  again,  our  views  of  religion  claim  your  attention, 

BECAUSE  THEY  AKE  NOT  ONLY  PRE-EMINENTLY  CONDUCIVE  TO 
HAPPINESS  EVEN  NOW,  BUT  THEY  ARE  THE  SAFEST  FOR  THE 
FUTURE. 

With  the  conviction  on  our  mind  that  they  are  true, 
and  according  to  the  Scriptures,  this  is  an  exceedingly 
low  point  of  view.  But  for  the  sake  of  illustrating  our 
argument,  suppose  the  opponent  of  evangelical  sentiments 
is  correct,  what  does  he  gain  ?  He  gains  nothing,  either 
in  this  world  or  the  world  to  come.  The  evangelical  be- 
liever fares  as  well  as  he  does.  He  loses  nothing.  But 
suppose  the  rejecter  of  evangelical  religion  is  mistaken, 
that  he  is  in  error,  as  he  most  certainly  is,  then  what  is 
the  result  ?  He  loses  every  thing.  If  it  were  possible  for 
you  to  be  in  error  by  believing  the  Scriptures  and  receiv- 
ing the  atonement,  and  striving  for  a  new  heart,  even  then 
you  lose  nothing  ;  but  if  such  things  are  true,  then  he  who 
rejects  them  is  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting. 

Finally.  Live  under  the  habitual  conviction  that  all 
your  actions  must  be  weighed  in  the  just  balances  of  the 
eternal  God.  "  It  is  appointed  unto  all  men  once  to  die, 
and  after  death  the  judgment." 

"We  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of 


LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Christ."  An  awful  scrutiny,  therefore,  awaits  every  one 
of  us  at  the  bar  of  God.  Well  then  might  we  say  with 
the  late  sage  of  Marshfield,  that  the  greatest  idea  that 
could  ever  enter  a  man's  mind  is  his  personal  account- 
ability to  God.  The  very  nature  of  the  constitution  of  the 
universe  requires  that  there  should  be  a  final  judgment, 
and  that  there  should  be  a  difference  between  those  that 
serve  God  and  those  that  serve  him  not.  As  there  is  good 
and  evil,  so  there  is  a  God  and  there  is  a  devil ;  and  com- 
mon sense,  as  well  as  reason  and  revelation,  teaches  that 
there  must  be  a  separation  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked. 
Accordingly,  our  Lord  has  told  us  that  the  righteous  shall 
go  away  into  life  everlasting,  and  the  wicked  into  ever- 
lasting punishment.  The  duration  of  the  happiness  of  the 
righteous  is  in  this  place  and  in  other  Scriptures  explained 
by  the  very  same  Greek  term  that  is  used  to  express  the 
duration  of  the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  It  is  impossi- 
ble for  language  to  be  plainer,  and  for  the  teachings  of 
the  Bible  to  be  more  positive  than  they  are  as  to  the 
characters  and  destinies  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked. 
Since,  then,  these  things  are  so,  What  shall  we  do  to  be 
saved  f  The  way  of  salvation  is  through  faith  in  Christ. 
All  of  our  race,  when  weighed  in  the  balances  of  God,  are 
found  wanting.  It  is  Christ,  and  Christ  only,  who  can 
turn  the  scale  in  favor  of  any  of  Adam's  race.  But  He  is 
an  almighty,  and  everlasting,  and  gracious  Saviour.  He 
casts  out  none  that  come  to  Him.  He  that  believeih  shall 
be  saved  /  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned. . 


BABYLON'S  LAST  NIQHT.  269 


LECTUKE  XIII. 

DANIEL   THREATENED   WITH   THE  LIOn's  DEN. 

On  Dan.,  vi.,  1-11. 

A  Tragedy  in  four  Acts  on  the  last  Night  of  the  Babylonian  Empire. — Feast 
described. — Herodotus  and  Xenophon  detail  the  Fulfillment  of  DanieVs  Predic- 
tions.—  Cyrus1  grand  Review. — Cyaxares. — Darius. — Men  for  Places,  not 
Places  for  Partisans. — Division  of  Labor. — As  good  Patriots,  pray  for  your 
Rulers. — Six  Satraps  not  too  many. — Daniel  a  model  Statesman. — Statesmen 
should  be  pious  as  well  as  capable. — Daniel  envied. — His  Promotion  not  con- 
firmed by  the  State:  why. —  Cunning  Politicians. — DanieVs  Danger. — No 
Impeachment  can  lie  except  in  the  matter  of  his  Religion. — The  Conspiracy 
arranged. — The  TYRANNY  of  the  Edict  against  Prayer. — DanieVs  Oratoire. 
— His  Mother's  Principles  deeply  rooted. — "  Toward  Jerusalem"  does  not 
authorize  high  Altars  looking  to  the  East. — Daniel  was  not  a  mere  heart 
Christian,  but  a  CONFESSOR — a  Man  for  a  Crisis. 

LESSONS. 

I.  Trials  burn  away  the  dross. 
II.  Learn  patience  and  prudence  under  trials.    Foundation  op  all 

LAW  IS  THE  WILL  OP  GrOD. 

III.  Surrender  yourselves  in  youth  cheerfully  and  unreservedly 

TO  THE  SERVICE  OP  GOD. 

I.  The  two  last  lectures  comprised  a  visit  to  the  city 
and  court  of  Babylon  under  most  extraordinary  circum- 
stances. We  were  at  a  royal  feast,  on  the  last  night  of 
the  existence  of  the  Babylonian  empire,  which  began  in 
great  splendor,  proceeded  with  unexampled  mirth,  and 
became  impious,  and  ended  in  fearful  disasters.  In  this 
most  imposing  tragedy  were  four  acts. 

First  Act. — A  magnificent  banquet — joy,  splendor,  be- 


270  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL, 

witching  beauty,  sparkling  wines,  rich  dresses,  glittering 
jewelry,  enchanting  music — an  assemblage  of  wit,  rank, 
and  beauty,  such  as  could  be  seen  only  in  the  metropolis 
of  the  world. 

The  Second  Act  opens  like  a  flash  of  lightning.  A 
hand,  silent  and  terrible,  comes  out  on  the  plastering  of 
the  palace  wall,  and  writes,  MENE,  MEKE,  TEKEL, 
UPHARSIN.  The  king  is  seized  with  terror — utters  a 
piercing  cry — his  limbs  tremble — his  countenance  is 
changed — his  eyes  are  fixed — his  joints  are  loosed  and 
his  knees  smite  together — he  calls  for  his  wise  men  ;  and 
the  whole  assembly  is  thrown  into  the  same  inexpressible 
anguish. 

Third  Act. — The  queen  dowager  enters — she  is  receiv- 
ed with  marks  of  profound  respect — she  comes  not  as  the 
wife  of  the  king,  but  with  the  authority  of  the  queen- 
mother.  But  does  she  come  to  read  herself  the  mys- 
terious writing  ?  Can  she  explain  this  appalling  prodigy  ? 
All  is  silent.  Let  us  hear  her  speak  :  "  O  king,"  says  she, 
"  live  forever !  There  is  a  man  in  thy  kingdom  in  whom 
is  the  Spirit  of  the  holy  God.  In  the  days  of  thy  father, 
light,  and  understanding,  and  wisdom,  like  the  wisdom 
of  the  gods,  was  found  in  him ;  he  interpreted  dreams, 
and  showed  hard  sayings,  and  resolved  doubts.  Let  him 
be  sent  for ;  he  is  the  only  man  in  your  kingdom  who  can 
explain  these  awful  mysteries." 

Fourth  Act. — Daniel  arrives.  What  a  moment !  Here 
are  the  thousand  lords — the  women  of  the  harem,  in  their 
extravagant  and  licentious  attire — here  are  the  festive 
tables — the  unhallowed  remains  of  a  royal  debauch — the 
golden  vessels  of  Jehovah's  temple  of  Jerusalem,  still  full 


DAx^IEL  IN  THE  ALARMED  COURT.  271 

of  the  wine  of  their  impure  libations.     The  lamps,  amid 
all  the  splendors  of  the  palace,  still  beam  upon  a  thous- 
and countenances  on  which  terror  is  depicted — the  king 
himself,  lately  so  joyous  and  so  proud,  is  now  trembling, 
dejected,  gasping  for  breath.     But  while  such  were  the 
scenes  going  on  beneath  the  porticoes  of  the  palace,  and 
on  the  terraces,  and  in  the  hanging  gardens  of  Babylon, 
night  reigned   over  the  Eastern  World*     The  stars,  in 
silence,  were  filling  their  offices  in  the  heavens ;  and  in 
the  camp  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  without  the  walls 
of  Babylon,  not  a  sound  was  heard.     The  besieging  army 
appears  more  silent  and  more  tranquil  than  ever.     And 
now  the  Hebrew  prophet  enters  the  royal  presence.     He 
is  an  old  man,  grown  gray  with  years ;  his  venerable 
countenance  beams  with   devotional  intelligence.     The 
monarch  reminds  him,  by  his  salutation,  that  though  he 
has  sent  for  him,  yet  he  was  only  a  captive  and  a  slave. 
"  Art  thou  that  Daniel,  which  art  of  the  children  of  the 
captivity,  whom  the  king  my  father  brought  out  of  the 
Jewry  ?     I  have  heard  of  thee,  that  thou  canst  make  in- 
terpretations.    Now  if  thou  canst  read  this  writing,  thou 
shalt  be  clothed  with  scarlet,  and  have  a  chain  of  gold 
about  thy  neck,  and  thou  shalt  be  third  ruler  in  the  king- 
dom."    Whereupon  Daniel  reads  the  interpretation  and 
is  rewarded  as  the  king  promised.     But,  according  to 
Daniel's  words,  that  very  night  "  was  Belshazzar,  the  king 
of  the  Chaldeans,  slain ;  and  Darius,  the  Median,  took 
the  kingdom,  being  about  threescore  and  two  years  old." 
Read  here  chap,  vi.,  1-11. 

You  are  aware  that  all  that  the  prophets  predicted  con- 
cerning the  fall  of  Babylon  was  fulfilled  to  the  letter, 


272  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

even  to  the  minutest  details.  The  accounts  of  Herodotus 
and  Xenophon,  who  lived  two  hundred  years  after  Cyrus, 
are  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  great  scenes  of  this 
wonderful  transaction,  as  recorded  in  Daniel,  and  foretold 
by  other  prophets.  The  confederate  armies  of  Media  and 
Persia  were  entrusted  to  the  command  of  young  Cyrus, 
who,  without  his  or  their  knowledge,  was  to  be  the  con- 
queror of  Babylon,  according  to  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah. 
Cyrus,  having  taken  the  city,  held  a  review  of  his  cavalry 
in  the  streets  and  squares.  Four  thousand  horsemen,  as 
the  royal  body-guard,  were  stationed  before  the  gates  of 
the  palace,  and  two  thousand  more  on  either  side.  .When- 
ever he  went  out,  these  marched  before  him,  and  two 
thousand  lancers  followed.  Next  followed  four  great 
divisions  of  the  army  of  ten  thousand  horse  in  each  ;  and 
lastly,  two  thousand  war  chariots,  armed  with  scythes, 
four  abreast,  closed  the  order  of  march.  The  army  re- 
viewed by  Cyrus  in  Babylon  is  estimated  to  have  consist- 
ed of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  horse  and  six 
hundred  thousand  foot,  numbers  not  at  all  improbable  in 
the  armies  of  the  East. 

Darius  the  Mede  was  not  present  when  Babylon  was 
taken.  Although  Cyrus  was  the  conqueror  of  the  Baby- 
lonians, he  did  not  reign  ostensibly  over  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  for  both  his  father  and  mother  were  still  alive. 
After  his  great  victory,  he  went  to  visit  his  parents  in 
Persia,  and  his  uncle,  the  Darius  of  Daniel,  called  also 
Cyaxares,  who  was  also  the  father-in-law  of  Cyrus,  return- 
ed with  him  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  the  empire.  It  was 
to  him  that  Cyrus  yielded  the  first  place.  And  after  such 
a  grand  review  as  that  which  I  have  just  spoken  of,  Cyrus 


DANIEL  UNDER  DARIUS.— MEN  FOR  PLACES.  273 

left  Babylon  to  lead  an  army  to  the  shores  of  the  Red 
Sea.  It  was  during  his  absence  that  the  events  of  the 
sixth  chapter  took  place.  Darius  reigned  only  two  years 
over  the  Babylonian  empire,  and  under  his  reign  Daniel 
was  cast  into  the  den  of  lions.  According  to  verses  1  and 
3,  Darius,  finding  Daniel  in  favor,  continued  him  in  office. 
All  classes  were,  no  doubt,  occupied  with  his  predictions. 
He  had  read  the  mysterious  words  on  the  wall,  and  fore- 
told the  destruction  of  the  king  and  the  loss  of  his  empire. 
It  was  no  doubt  also  now  called  to  mind  how  that  for 
half  a  century  he  had  served  the  great  Nebuchadnezzar. 
The  conquerors  were  no  doubt  made  well  acquainted  with 
his  wisdom,  his  probity,  his  presence  of  mind,  and  eleva- 
tion of  character.  His  incomparable  excellence  of  spirit 
and  talent  for  government  recommended  him  to  the  chief 
bureau  of  the  presidencies.  Men  should  be  selected  for 
places,  and  not  places  made  for  friends.  Men  should  be 
appointed  to  office  who  have  shown  themselves  to  possess 
capacity  and  integrity  in  the  situations  they  have  already 
occupied ;  and  one  proof  of  their  requisite  qualifications 
for  office  is,  that  they  have  the  good  sense  and  modesty 
to  stay  at  home  and  diligently  attend  to  their  business 
until  their  services  are  called  for  by  a  discerning  public. 
History  and  experience  have  shown  that  it  is  better  for 
individuals  and  for  society  that  there  should  be  a  division 
of  labor,  and  different  grades  in  society,  and  different 
avocations ;  and  that  society  is  best  which  allows  to  all 
the  free  pursuits  of  life  and  happiness  in  such  avocations 
as  may  be  individually  selected,  and  guarantees  to  them 
security  and  enjoyment  in  the  awards  of  their  several 

pursuits.     Without  such  division,  freedom,  and  guarantee, 

18 


274  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  arts  and  sciences  can  never  be  carried  on  to  perfection. 
It  has  ever  been  one  of  the  greatest  tests  of  character  and 
of  talent,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  difficult 
trusts  of  government,  to  select  suitable  men  for  public 
services.  Moses,  Joshua,  David,  and  Solomon ;  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, Cyrus,  Alexander,  and,  greater  than  all — ex- 
cept the  Bible  heroes — Cromwell  and  Napoleon,  were  re- 
markable for  ther  ability  in  this.  And  as  you  and  all 
Christians  should  pray  daily  for  all  in  authority,  so  you 
should  never  forget  to  implore  Him  who  is  the  fountain 
of  wisdom  to  give  a  discerning  of  spirits  and  sound  under- 
standing to  all  rulers,  that  they  may  be  able  to  find  men 
that  fear  God  and  are  anxious  for  his  glory,  to  fill  the 
various  offices  of  government.  When  God  would  punish 
a  people  for  their  sins,  he  says,  "I  will  give  their  children 
to  be  their  princes,  and  babes  shall  reign  over  them." — 
Isaiah  iii.,  4. 

II.  For  an  answer  to  the  objection  made  to  the  very 
beginning  of  this  chapter,  that  there  was  no  such  king  as 
Darius  the  Median,  I  refer  you  to  history,  and  to  what 
I  have  just  said  about  Cyaxares.  And  as  to  a  similar 
objection  about  the  number  of  provinces  and  satraps,  the 
following  remarks  may  suffice :  The  term  satrap  is  said 
to  be  Median  or  Persian,  and  to  mean  simply  a  super- 
intendent of  revenue.  In  process  of  time,  the  satraps 
took  also  the  office  of  military  governor  of  the  provinces 
over  which  they  were  appointed  as  revenue  officers.  The 
extent  and  number  of  such  provinces  depended  wholly 
upon  the  will  and  convenience  of  the  sovereign.  Sub- 
satrwps  may  be  included  also  under  the  same  term.  It 
may  be  true,  then  (Cyrop.,  viii.,  6,  1,  and  viii,  5,  19,)  that 


DANIEL  A  MODEL  STATESMAN.  275 

Cyrus  did  appoint  six  satraps  over  his  kingdom.  It  is 
true  that  his  empire  was  larger  than  that  of  Darius.  It 
may  he  true,  also,  according  to  Herodotus  (iii.,  89,)  that, 
after  Thrace  and  hither  India  were  added  to  the  empire 
by  Darius  Hystaspis,  only  twenty  satraps  were  appointed. 
And  Xerxes  appointed  127  ;  why,  then,  could  not  Darius 
the  Mede  appoint  120  % 

III.  As  soon  as  Darius  became  lord  of  the  then  civilized 
world,  he  began  to  feel  the  cares  of  office  and  the  per- 
plexities of  the  power  of  patronage.  An  increase  of  care 
is  the  first  consequence  of  an  increase  of  power.  The 
newly- conquered  provinces,  as  well  as  the  older  parts  of 
his  vast  dominions,  were  now  to  be  provided  with  military 
governors  and  tax  collectors.  Over  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  rulers  of  the  provinces  he  appointed  three  pre- 
sidents, of  whom  Daniel  was  chief.  The  preference  for 
Daniel  was  well  founded.  He  was  a  model  statesman — 
a  prime  minister  that  should  be  imitated.  He  was,  1,  well 
known  for  his  probity  and  talents  for  government  under 
the  Babylonian  empire.     He  was  a  tried  man. 

2.  He  was  preferred  above  the  presidents,  because  an 
excellent  spirit  was  in  him,  and  the  king  thought  to  have 
set  him  over  the  whole  realm.  Kings  and  presidents  are 
now  often  mistaken  in  the  estimate  which  they  form  of 
men.  But  Darius  was  correct.  Daniel  was  one  of  the 
most  excellent  of  the  earth.  If  in  particular  talents  and 
services  he  was  excelled  by  other  Bible  heroes,  certainly, 
in  the  union  and  assemblage  of  gifts  and  graces,  and  in 
life-long  devotion  and  uniform  adherence  to  principles,  he 
was  surpassed  by  none.  From  his  youth  he  honored  God, 
by  an  intelligent,  consistent,  and  exemplary  piety ;  and 


276  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

God  so  honored  him,  that  even  heathen  kings  did  him 
reverence,  while  they  contemned  his  religion.  Great 
talents  and  high  station  with  him  were  not  inconsistent 
with  inviolable  purity  and  inflexible  integrity.  His  badge 
of  office  was  not  the  badge  of  ignominy.  He  did  not  owe 
his  elevation  to  any  fawning,  cringing,  flattering  submis- 
sion ;  nor  was  his  high  position  owing  to  blind  favoritism 
or  party  zeal.  He  had  no  patron  but  his  God ;  no  cer- 
tificate but  his  character ;  no  recommendation  but  his  ex- 
cellent spirit,  and  incomparable  talent  and  experience. 

Honorable  as  Daniel's  appointment  was  to  himself,  it 
was  no  less  so  to  his  royal  master.  To  govern  a  country 
well,  rulers  must  not  only  be  great  men,  but  good  men- 
men  of  public  spirit  and  courage,  who  will  neither  seek 
to  please  themselves  nor  the  people  by  sinister  purposes, 
but  endeavor,  in  all  honesty  of  heart,  to  promote  the  peo- 
ple's welfare  and  the  glory  of, God.  Happy. was  it  for  the 
Persian  empire  that  such  a  man  as  Daniel  was  chief  of 
its  prefects.  But  no  appointment  to  office  ever  was  satis- 
factory to  all.  Somebody  is  dissatisfied.  Excellent  as 
Daniel's  character  was,  his  appointment  to  the  first  place 
in  the  kingdom  gave  great  offense  to  the  dignitaries  of 
the  realm.  They  were  filled  with  envy  to  see  a  foreigner, 
a  captive,  a  professor  of  the  hated  Jewish  religion,  exalted 
above  the  ancient  and  hereditary  nobles  of  the' land. 
Probably,  also,  Daniel's  inflexible  integrity  in  the  admin- 
istration of  affairs  was  another  cause  of  their  hatred.  A 
man  of  such  strict  purity  was  in  their  way;  he  was  a 
running  commentary  of  rebuke  ;  his  character  awed  them, 
reproved  them,  restrained,  and  therefore  irritated  them. 
He  would  not  join  in  their  peculations,  nor  overlook  their 


WHY  HE  WAS  PERSECUTED.  277 

oppression.  It  was  impossible  for  them  to  aggrandize 
themselves,  with  such  a  man  to  represent  the  interests  of 
the  nation  always  calling  them  to  an  account.  As  col- 
lectors of  the  ports  and  directors  of  the  revenue  deposits 
of  those  days,  they  could  not  *  loan  to  one  another,  upon 
their  own  pledged  stock,  or  otherwise,  the  moneys  of  the 
empire,  while  a  man  so  sagacious,  so  penetrating,  so 
scrutinizing,  was  at  their  head  to  check  their  rapacity. 
They  could  not  deceive  him  by  the  pretext  that  it  was 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  public  they  were  so  liberal 
in  helping  themselves  to  the  dividends  of  the  royal  exche- 
quer. They  were,  however,  far-seeing  politicians.  They 
did  not  attack  outright  the  justice  or  wisdom  of  the  king's 
appointment.  They  set  about  effecting  Daniel's  removal. 
"No  doubt  they  were  anxious  to  find  some  public  act 
which  they  might  challenge — some  instance  of  partiality, 
of  oppression,  or  injustice — some  harsh  expression — some 
instance  of  prejudice  against  the  national  religion,  or  of 
bigotry  toward  his  own — some  overlooking  of  the  king's 
interest — something  or  other  which,  by  being  exaggerated 
or  highly  colored,  might  be  so  presented  to  the  monarch 
as  to  produce  Daniel's  downfall,  and  possibly  his  death. 
And  how  easily  they  might  have  effected  this,  if  there 
had  only  been  found  some  plausible  pretext,  you  will 
easily  perceive,  when  you  reflect  that  Daniel  was  prime 
minister  in  an  empire  where  the  will  of  the  monarch  was 
law  absolute,  unquestioned,  irrevocable;  where  there 
was  no  constitutional  liberty,  no  trial  by  jury,  no  regular 
impeachment  and  investigation ;  but  where  upon  a  charge, 
or  at  the  pleasure  of  the  monarch,  the  head  of  any  subject 
rolled  trunkless  at  his  feet  in  a  moment.     These  courtiers, 


.278  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

however,  find  no  occasion  against  Daniel  in  any  matter 
that  pertained  to  his  official  duties,  or  to  his  loyalty  to 
the  king.  If  keen-eyed  malignity  had  brought  some 
charge  against  Daniel,  he  would  have  fared  as  most  pub- 
lic men  do ;  but  so  well  was  his  character  balanced,  and 
so  great  were  his  wisdom  and  prudence,  that  he  avoided 
even  the  appearance  of  evil.  His  enemies  were  obliged 
to  confess  that  his  public  conduct  was  unimpeachable. 
Did  they  then  cease  their  purpose  of  destroying  him  % 
When  did  the  enemies  of  a  godly  man  ever  cease  to  hunt 
for  occasions  to  accuse  him  ?  When  they  cannot  find 
causes,  they  will  invent  them  ;  they  will  endeavor  to  turn 
his  very  virtues  into  crimes.  There  is  no  more  hateful, 
no  more  unhappy  disposition  than  one  that  gloats  in  dis- 
covering another's  faults.  It  is  a  most  godless  and  repro- 
bate state  of  mind.  To  be  gratified  in  discovering  the 
sins  of  our  fellow-men,  is  to  partake  of  the  fiendish  dis- 
position of  the  great  enemy  of  all  good.  I  had  rather 
forget  and  forgive  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  errors 
in  my  neighbor  than  discover  one  of  his  faults.  Our  re- 
ligion is  love  ;  our  God  is  love.  And  though  Christians 
are  not  saints,  though  they  are  imperfect,  yet  their  prin- 
ciples compel  them  to  be  benevolent,  forgiving,  and 
kind.  Drunkards,  thieves,  fornicators,  and  liars  are 
nearer  the  kingdom  of  God  than  those  persons  who  are 
full  of  enmity  against  their  neighbor.  He  that  hateth  his 
brother  is  of  the  wicked  one,  the  father  of  Cain.  "  He 
that  hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer,  and  ye  know  that 
no  murderer  hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him." 

I  apprehend  that  verses  4  and  5  do  not  mean  that  there 
was  any  thing  in  Daniel's  conduct  toward  his  God  that 


HIS  SPLENDID  EULOGIUM.  279 

justly  laid  him  liable  to  a  charge  on  that  ground.  No, 
the  meaning  is  the  very  opposite  of  this.  He  was  not  re- 
miss in  the  duties  he  owed  to  his  God.  They  meant  to 
say,  Our  only  hope  is  to  find  something  in  his  religious 
creed  or  practice  that  can  be  construed  into  an  offense 
against  the  king  or  the  empire.  There  is  no  other  way 
of  getting  up  a  charge  against  him  that  will  have  even 
the  appearance  of  plausibility.  And  was  there  ever  a 
more  splendid  eulogium  than  this  upon  Daniel's  charac- 
ter? Nothing  can  be  charged  against  him  but  what  is, 
in  fact,  his  highest  honor. 

IV.  The  conspirators,  having  arranged  their  arguments, 
approach  the  throne  with  the  loudest  professions  of  de- 
votion and  disinterested  loyalty.     Kead  verses  6,  7,  and  8. 

The  tyranny  of  this  law  consisted  in  its  penalty,  and  in 
its  interdiction  of  all  intercourse  between  God  and  his 
creatures.  It  was  an  impious  attempt  to  banish  God  from 
the  Persian  empire  for  thirty  days.  It  exalted  the  king 
into  the  place  of  the  Creator.  The  decree  claimed  more 
for  Darius  than  the  Maker  of  the  universe  claims  for  him- 
self. God  forbids  us  to  pray  to  saints,  or  angels,  or  any 
other  creature  or  God  but  himself,  but  does  not,  as  Darius 
did,  forbid  our  making  requests  of  our  fellow-men.  It  was 
a  most  unreasonable  and  cruel  law.  If  the  beggar  in  the 
streets  of  Babylon  or  Persepolis  asked  alms  for  thirty 
days,  he  was  to  be  food  for  lions.  If  the  child,  in  the 
overflowings  of  affectionate  desires,  should  make  a  request 
to  his  father,  he  was  to  be  thrown  straightway  into  the 
lions'  den.  This  decree  was  the  carrying  out  of  the  ab- 
surd, tyrannical,  superstitious,  atheistical  principle,  that 
rulers  may  legislate  for  the  consciences  of  their  subjects. 


280  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

It  is  the  pressure  of  this  principle  that  makes  Europe  to- 
day groan  under  such  intolerable  burdens.  Priests  and  sol- 
diers eat  up  the  substance  of  the  people.  The  priests  keep 
the  conscience,  and,  by  the  terrors  of  the  world  to  come, 
wrest  the  hard  earnings  of  the  people  from  them  for  the 
support  of  courts  and  armies,  and  the  government  upholds 
the  hierarchy  for  their  service  to  the  state.  The  estab- 
lishment of  a  religion  by  law,  and  the  intolerance  that 
forbids  any  other,  is  an  assumption  on  the  part  of  human 
lawgivers  that  they  have  the  right  to  tell  men  what  to 
believe,  and  to  compel  them  to  believe,  and  consequently 
have  a  right  to  debar  them  from  all  correspondence  with 
God — to  lay  an  embargo  upon  all  intercourse  with  heaven. 

The  dishonest  and  treacherous  method  by  which  these 
men  obtained  the  passing  of  this  cruel  and  unrighteous 
decree  is  characteristic  of  zealots  and  political  partisans 
to  this  day.  The  device  is  still  the  king's  honor,  while 
in  reality  it  is  their  own  miserable  selfish  purposes  they 
are  seeking,  and  seeking  by  encompassing  the  ruin  of 
Daniel.  So  it  is  the  good  of  the  country — the  country, 
the  people,  the  public  welfare,  that  we  hear  of;  while  it 
is  too  often  party  or  sectarian  interests,  or  personal  ag- 
grandizement, that  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  their  zeal. 
Though  the  patriotism  of  many  is  like  a  chameleon,  it 
cannot  live  on  air ;  it  has  a  strong  passion  for  loaves  and 
fishes. 

Y.  But  what'did  Daniel  do?     Yerses  10,  11. 

And  his  windows  were  open  in  his  chamber — an  apart- 
ment probably  built  on  the  top  of  the  house,  with  a  roof 
of  its  own,  and  designed  for  retirement.  Such  an  upper 
room  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Bible.     This  upper 


OPEN  WINDOWS.— "UPPER  ROOM"  281 

room  was  the  usual  place  for  prayer  :  see  Acts,  i.,  13,  9. 
In  the  Septuagint  translation  of  Daniel,  which  you  may 
remember  was  made  from  the  original  Hebrew  and  Chal- 
dee  into  Greek,  about  three  hundred  years  before  the 
birth  of  Christ,  by  Alexandrian  Jews,  at  the  command  of 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  the  word  that  is  used  for  Daniel's 
chamber*,  is  the  very  same  that  is  used  in  the  Acts  to 
denote  the  place  in  which  the  Christians  met  at  Pentecost. 
This  room  is  called  the  "upper  room,"  because  it  was 
built  upon  the  flat  roof  of  the  house,  and  sequestered  from 
the  noise  and  interruption  of  the  other  rooms.  It  was 
into  this  room  the  pious  Jew  retired  to  read  the  law,  and 
pray,  and  hold  communion  with  God.  It  was  in  such  a 
room  the  first  Christians  were  wont  to  assemble  for  prayer, 
and  for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  was  to 
such  a  room  Daniel  was  in  the  habit  of  withdrawing  him- 
self from  the  cares  of  state  to  hold  communion  with  the 
God  of  his  fathers,  and  still  the  covenant-keeping  God  of 
his  suffering  countrymen.  There  is  not  to  my  mind  any 
thing  strange,  improbable,  or  proud  and  ostentatious,  in 
the  fact  that  Daniel  prayed  with  his  windows  open,  and 
toward  Jerusalem.  It  was  not  for  the  mere  purpose  of 
display,  or  to  defy  the  conspirators  against  his  life,  that 
he  did  so.  It  had  always  been  his  custom  thus  to  worship 
God.  He  knew  that  the  decree  was  made,  and  that  it 
was  unchangeable ;  but  in  his  hour  of  trial  he  had  no 
thought  of  forsaking  his  God.  It  was  the  more  proper 
for  him  now  to  seek  his  blessing  and  presence.  Daniel 
had  no  difficulty  or  hesitancy  in  determining  what  he 
should  do.  His  early  education  had  fortunately  been 
pious;  he  had  studied  well  with  his  mother  and  father, 


LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 


in  his  quiet  Jerusalem  home,  the  laws  of  Moses  and  the 
Catechism  of  his  Church.  His  principles  were,  therefore, 
not  only  sound,  but  deeply-rooted ;  and  his  conscience 
had  been  so  faithfully  trained  and  developed  by  his  habits 
of  duty,  that  it  intuitively  pronounced  an  instant  and  final 
sentence  on  the  matter.  What  if  his  fortune,  his  life,  was 
at  stake  ?  How  could  he  sin  against  God  ?  No  sooner, 
therefore,  did  he  hear  that  u  the  writing  was  signed  than 
he  went  into  his  house ;  and  his  windows  being  open  in 
his  chamber  toward  Jerusalem,  he  kneeled  upon  his  knees 
three  times  a  day,  and  prayed,  and  gave  thanks  before  his 
God,  as  he  did  aforetime." 

Toward  Jerusalem,  because  that  was  the  place  where 
the  special  presence  of  God  was  supposed  to  be.  Thus 
David  says  in  Fsalm  v.,  7,  "  And  in  thy  fear  will  I  worship 
toward  thy  holy  temple."  And  again,  xvii,,  2,  "  Hear  the 
voice  of  my  supplications,  when  I  say  unto  thee,  when  I 
lift  up  my  hands  toward  the  holy  oracle ;"  or,  as  it  is  in 
the  margin,  "  the  oracle  of  thy  sanctuary."  And  again, 
in  Psalm  xx.,  where  we  have  the  ground  of  this  practice, 
"  Jehovah  hear  thee  in  the  day  of  trouble.  Send  thee 
help  from  the  sanctuary,  and  strengthen  thee  out  of  Zion." 
The  sublime  prayer  of  Solomon  contains  several  repeti- 
tions of  the  idea  that  their  prayers  were  to  be  directed  to 
the  temple  in  Jerusalem.  1  Kings,  viii.,  35,  38,  44,  48, 
49 ;  2  Chron.,  vi.,  34. 

"We  learn  from  Ezekiel,  viii.,  16,  that  the  worshipers  of 
Ormuzd,  the  god  of  the  Persians,  looked  to  the  rising  sun, 
the  symbol  of  Ormuzd,  when  engaged  in  worship.  The 
ancient  Christians  used  to  pray  with  their  faces  toward 
the  East.     In  like  manner,  the  Mohammedans  pray  with 


"TOWARD  JERUSALEM."— HIGH  ALTARS.  283 

their  faces  toward  Mecca.     As  Daniel  was  east  of  Jeru- 
salem, Ms  face  was  turned  toward  the  west.     Nor  can  we 
suppose  for  a  moment  that  we  have  here,  or  any  where 
else,  any  authority  prescribing  it  as  the  duty  of  Christians 
to  look  toward  any  of  the  cardinal  points  when  they  pray. 
It  is  not  in  this  mountain,  not  at  Babylon  nor  Persepolis, 
not  in  Rome,  nor  Jerusalem,  that  God  requires  us  to  wor- 
ship him ;  but  every  where,  in  all  places.     God  is  a  Spirit, 
and  seeketh  such  to  worship  him  as  do  it  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.     The  reason  why  pious  Jews  directed  their  face 
toward  Jerusalem  in  prayer  was,  that  there  was  the  temple 
and  its  furniture  which  was  to  them  the  type  of  the  Me- 
diator, by  whom  their  worship  was  to  be  made  acceptable 
to  God.     The  spiritually-minded  Jew  fixes  his  eye  on  the 
temple  service  as  a  figure  representing  the  mediation  and 
intercession  of  the  Messiah.     It  is  no  argument,  but  a 
vain  plea  of  superstition,  to  tell  us  that  because  the  Jews 
prayed  in  ancient  times  with  their  faces  toward  Jeru- 
salem, we  ought  to  do  so  likewise.     Of  precisely  the  same 
nature  is  the  idea  that  we  should  build  our  churches  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  or  with  their  chancels,  which  are 
ignorantly  called  by  some  "altars,"  and  "high  altars," 
looking  toward  the  East.     Our  houses  of  worship  should 
be  tasteful,  elegant,  commodious,  and  fitted  for  the  wor- 
ship of  God ;  but  to  burden  ourselves  with  forms  and 
rules  such  as  these,  is  to  do  just  what  Paul  tells  the 
Galatians  not  to  do  :  "  The  letting  go  the  liberty  where- 
with Christ  has  made  us  free."    This  were  to  go  back  to 
Judaism ;  this  were  to  conform  to  heathen  and  Moham- 
medan forms.     And  what  is  infinitely  more,  this  is  to  dis- 
place Christ,  the  only  Mediator,  and  to  "  substitute  an 


284  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

exhausted  type,  a  shriveled  symbol,  in  the  room  of  Him 
who  is  its  substance,  its  reality,  and  its  end."  If  the 
great  law  of  Solomon  to  the  Jews  was,  "  Pray  with  your 
face  toward  Jerusalem,"  the  great  law  of  the  Gospel  is, 
"Pray  every  where  in  the  name  of  Jesus."  The  Jewish 
Church  consisted  of  a  temple  built  of  stones,  a  grand 
altar,  overshadowing  cherubims,  with  bright  beams  of 
ineffable  glory,  and  the  ministration  of  the  priests  with 
sacrifices — all  of  which  was  a  type  of  good  things  to  come. 
The  Christian  Church  is  composed  not  of  dead  stones,  but 
of  living  ones.  The  glory  is  not  visible  and  palpable,  but 
spiritual ;  the  worship  is  spiritual ;  its  completeness  is  the 
fullness  of  Christ,  who  is  all. in  all,  and  over  all,  God, 
blessed  for  evermore.  ,  And  hence  there  is  a  true  Christian 
Church  without  priest  or  bishop,  wherever  there  is  faith 
in  Christ  and  obedience  to  his  commandments.  On  the 
ocean  shore,  on  the  deep-sounding  sea,  on  the  mountain 
top,  in  the  deep  secluded  glen,  in  the  mountain  gorge, 
hidden  from  persecuting  tyrants ;  in  the  deep  caves  and 
catacombs  of  the  earth ;  in  the  field,  in  the  wilderness,  in 
the  city;  wherever  there  are  two  or  three  met  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  there  is  a  temple  more  glorious  than 
Solomon's ;  there  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
which  God  dwells,  and  manifests  his  excellent  glory. 

It  is  sometimes  said,  Daniel  could  have  been  just  as 
pious,  and  have  prayed  to  God  in  his  heart,  and  God 
would  have  heard  him  just  as  well,  if  he  had  shut  his 
windows  and  prayed  in  secret,  and  not  have  let  his  ene- 
mies know  that  he  violated  the  king's  decree. 

It  is  true  that  bodily  exercise  profiteth  little,  but  the 
Bible  does  not  say  it  profiteth  nothing.     On  the  contrary, 


POINT  OF  DANIEL'S  TRIAL.  285 

we  are  commanded  to  glorify  God  in  onr  bodies  as  well 
as  in  our  spirits,  which  are  His.  The  form  of  godliness  is 
a  part  of  religion,  as  well  as  the  power.  When  God  calls 
upon  us  to  believe  with  the  heart  unto  righteousness ',  no 
outward  action,  such  as  fasting,  or  praying  with  a  loud 
voice,  or  pilgrimages,  or  penances,  or  the  giving  of  youi 
goods  to  feed  the  poor,  of  your  bodies  to  be  burned,  will 
be  accepted  by  God  as  a  substitute  for  faith.  So,  on  the 
other  hand,  when  God  calls  you  to  make  confession  of 
Christ  with  the  mouth  unto  salvation— to  acknowledge 
him  before  men — then  no  inward  frame  of  spirit,  neither 
faith,  nor  love,  nor  self-denial,  will  be  accepted  by  him  as 
a  substitute  for  that  open  and  visible  adherence  to  His 
truth  and  identification  with  His  people  which  He  has 
been  pleased  to  require  as  a  test  of  your  obedience  to 
Him,  and  a  means  of  salvation.  In  a  time  of  trial,  it  is 
not  mere  inward  feeling  of  devotion,  but  the  outward 
manifestation  of  it,  that  God  requires.  It  is  not  so  much 
the  image  of  God  in  the  heart,  as  his  "  name  upon  the 
forehead,"  that  proves  that  we  are  "  the  called,  and  chosen, 
and  faithful."  In  the  case  of  Daniel,  the  point  on  which 
the  authority  of  God  and  of  the  king  came  into  collision, 
was  about  the  external  acts  of  divine  worship.  Praying 
to  God  in  the  Spirit  was  not  prohibited,  but  rendering 
him  outward  acts  of  homage  was  forbidden.  This  was 
the  point  on  trial.  God  said,  on  the  one  hand,  "  In  all 
thy  ways  acknowledge  me,  and  I  will  direct  thy  steps." 
"  In  the  day  of  trouble,  call  upon  me,  and  I  will  answer." 
Darius  said,  "Thou  shalt  not  ask  a  petition  of  God  for 
thirty  days."  In  this  case,  the  inward  state  of  the  heart 
could  be  ascertained  only  by  the  outward  act.     It  was 


286  LECTURES  ON   DANIEL. 

not  enough  that  the  heart  believed ;  the  mouth  must  make 
confession  also.  If  Daniel  had  shut  his  windows,  if  he 
had  ceased  to  kneel,  or  ceased  to  speak  unto  God  with  his 
lips,  and  rested  content  with  the  mere  utterances  of  the 
heart,  he  would  have  denied  his  God  before  men  ;  but  by 
praying  as  he  had  done  aforetime,  he  gave  his  testimony, 
and  God  honored  and  delivered  him.  Daniel's  hi^h  sta- 
tion  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  empire,  instead  of  excusing 
him  from  fidelity  to  his  religion,  enhanced  the  peculiar 
responsibility  attached  to  him  in  this  emergency.  He 
was  a  city  set  upon  a  hill ;  he  was  the  head  of  all  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  true  religion  then  in  the  world,  as  well  as 
chief  of  the  presidents  of  the  empire.  He  was  the  "  ob- 
served of  all  observers."  The  eyes  of  friends  and  enemies 
were  upon  him.  Any  indecision,  any  appearance  of  hes- 
itance,  any  compromiting  of  his  principles,  or  seeming 
compliance  with  the  decree,  would  have  been  productive 
of  the  most  painful  results ;  but  happily  he  was  the  man 
for  the  crisis ;  the  cause  in  his  hands  was  safe.  Closing 
his  eyes  on  danger,  he  thought  only  of  his  duty.  The 
fear  of  lions  could  not  make  him  disown  his  God.  At  the 
perilous  post,  his  attitude  clearly  defined  his  position ;  and 
as  his  faith  was  shown  by  his  conduct,  the  Bible  records 
only  his  magnanimous  outward  act.  The  Bible  does  not 
tell  us  how  he  felt  or  what  he  said,  but  what  he  did.  It 
refers  not  to  the  frame  of  his  soul,  but  to  the  posture  of 
his  body  and  the  utterances  of  his  lips.  It  was  by  his 
outward  actions  that  he  was  to  show  that  he  was  willing 
to  lay  his  body  down  as  a  living  sacrifice  on  the  divine 
altar. 

First,  then,  this  case  teaches  you  that  GooZ  sometimes 


SOMETIMES  MUST  SUFFER  OR  SIN.  287 

allows  his  people  to  be  placed  in  situations  in  which  they 
are  shut  up  by  Sis  providence  either  to  suffer  or  to  sin. 
It  was  not  any  fault  of  Daniel's  three  friends  that  placed 
them  in  the  dilemma  of  worshiping  the  great  image  on 
the  plains  of  Dura,  or  of  being  cast  into  the  fiery  furnace. 
And  so  here  it  was  for  no  fault  of  Daniel  that  he  is  shut 
up  to  the  necessity  of  deciding  whether  he  would  obey 
God  or  man,  whether  he  would  disown  God  or  be  cast  into 
the  lions'  den.  Joseph  had  similar  seasons  of  trial.  Caleb 
and  Joshua  also.  They  had  another  spirit,  and  followed 
the  Lord  fully.  Them  the  Lord  brought  into  the  promised 
land.  Moses  chose  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of 
God,  rather  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season. 
And  so  there  are  now,  in  the  lives  of  most  men,  seasons 
of  peril,  critical  periods,  when  they  must  either  sin  or 
suffer ;  when  they  must  decide,  and  take  their  position  on 
the  Lord's  side  or  against  him.  Such  trials  answer  holy 
and  wise  purposes.  They  benefit  God's  true  people,  by 
burning  away  the  dross  of  selfishness  and  worldly-mind- 
edness.     But, 

Secondly.  Learn  from  Daniel  to  possess  your  soul  in 
patience  and  prudence  in  the  days  of  severe  trial. 

Daniel  adds  nothing,  by  way  of  insult,  to  his  persecu- 
tors, nor  of  defiance  toward  his  sovereign,  nor  yet  does  he 
omit  any  thing  from  fear  of  danger.  He  worships  God 
just  as  he  had  been  accustomed  to  do.  He  goes  to  his 
own  house,  into  his  private  chamber,  and  with  his  win- 
dows open,  looking  toward  Jerusalem,  he  kneels  down 
and  prays  to  God,  just  as  if  no  decree  had  been  issued 
against  prayer.  We  see  here  no  fool-hardiness ;  we  see 
no  vain  courting  of  martyrdom  !  nor  do  we  see  any  pre 


288  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

caution  to  escape  the  doom  that  awaited  him.  We  see 
him  praying  three  times  a  day,  as  he  had  done  aforetime. 
The  place,  and  manner,  and  substance  of  his  prayers  were 
now  just  as  before.  He  had  been  accustomed  to  mingle 
thanksgiving  with  prayer,  and  though  he  is  now  exposed 
to  the  hungry  lions,  he  still  sees  abundant  cause  of  thank- 
fulness. He  felt  honored  in  being  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  for  his  God.  He  remembered  how  he  had  been 
hitherto  sustained,  and  now  that  he  was  old  and  gray- 
headed,  he  thanked  God  that  he  would  not  leave  him  nor 
forsake  him. 

It  is  sometimes  said  Daniel  did  wrong  in  disobey- 
ing a  law  which  had  been  passed  by  the  highest  legis- 
lative power  in  the  country.  First,  I  have  no  sympathy 
with  the  "higher  law"  faction  of  our  times;  but  it  is 
certainly  clear  that  the  foundation  of  all  law  is  the  will 
of  God.  Governments  are  ordained  of  God.  The  will 
of  God  is  aback  of  and  above  all  social  compacts  or  civil 
enactments.  Secondly,  as  all  the  authority  which  man 
possesses  over  man  is  derived  from  God,  so  that  authority 
is  limited  by  the  Divine  law,  and  therefore  the  laws  of 
man  ouly  bind  when  they  are  not  inconsistent  with  the 
law  of  God.  The  moment  any  decrees  of  man  require 
what  God  has  forbidden,  or  forbids  what  God  has  com- 
manded, they  cease  to  be  binding  upon  the  conscience, 
and  in  such  cases  it  is  our  solemn  duty  to  protest  against 
them,  and  to  disobey  them.  Kesistance  and  passive  obe- 
dience may  be  pressed  to  a  point  when  they  become  sin- 
ful. The  edict  of  Darius,  thirdly,  was  tyrannical,  and 
opposed  to  the  plainest  commands  of  God.  It  would  have 
been,  therefore,  sinful  in  Daniel  to  obey  it. 


DANIEL  COULD  NOT  BE  SEDUCED.  289 

Thirdly.  Learn  then,  young  men,  I  beseech  you,  the 
duty  of  surrendering  yourselves  at  once  cordially  and 
with  a  wliole-hearted  magnanimity  to  the  service  of  God. 
Daniel  kept  back  nothing.  He  did  not  waver  or  hesitate. 
But  as  soon  as  his  hour  of  prayer  comes,  though  he  knows 
the  decree  is  signed,  he  goes  to  his  chamber,  there  to 
offer  his  protest  against  this  impious  decree,  and  to  give 
his  testimony  for  the  supremacy  of  his  God.  Daniel  was 
not  dragged  t#  duty,  nor  to  suffering.  No  doubt  there 
were  those  who  were  ready  to  say  he  was  over-righteous, 
some  that  were  ready  to  say,  Why  do  you  peril  your  life, 
Daniel,  for  a  mere  form  ?  why  will  you  make  yourself  a 
martyr  for  the  little  matters  of  keeping  your  windows 
open,  kneeling  down,  and  speaking  your  prayers  aloud  ? 
Surely,  you  are  not  going  to  sacrifice  your  splendid 
emoluments  and  high  station  by  refusing  to  obey  the 
king  for  the  short  space  of  thirty  days.  Consider  too,  0 
mighty  man !  chief  of  the  presidents,  how  valuable  your 
life  is  to  others.  Consider  how  much  you  owe  to  your 
countrymen,  whose  cause  is  in  your  hands,  and  to  the 
Church  of  the  Living  God.  Surely,  you  will  not  put  in 
peril  all  these  great  matters  by  such  obstinacy.  How 
many,  or  which,  or  whether  any  of  these  pleas  were  sug- 
gested to  Daniel,  I  know  not.  There  are  always  plausible 
apologies  at  hand  for  treachery  to  the  immortal  soul,  and 
treason  to  God ;  but  no  one  can  doubt  how  Daniel  re- 
plied to  such  cowardly  proposals,  if  indeed  any  one  ven- 
tured to  name  them  to  him.  His  reply,  no  doubt,  was, 
"  Talk  not  to  me  of  prudence,  nor  of  the  value  of  my  life ; 
it  belongs  to  Him  who  gave  it  to  me.     He  can  preserve 

me,  or  He  can  raise  up  others  better  than  I  am.    I  cannot 

19 


290  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

refrain  from  avowing  that  I  dare  to  do.  I  would  rather 
refrain  fi*(jm  praying  altogether,  than  pretend  to  neglect 
it  while  I  was  secretly  engaged  in  it.  I  must  be  honest ; 
and,  as  to  the  time  of  thirty  days,  I  do  not  know  that  I 
shall  live  thirty  hours.  Life,  reputation,  influence,  is 
nothing  without  the  blessing  of  God.  I  will  pray,  there- 
fore, just  as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  do.  He  shall 
hear  my  voice  morning,  noon,  and  evening,  as  heretofore. 
The  result  I  cheerfully  leave  in  His  haUds."  And,  my 
young  friends,  when  you  are  called  upon  to  take  up  your 
cross,  deny  yourselves  and  confess  Christ  before  men,  re- 
member Daniel.  It  is  no  honor  to  be  brave  on  the  drill 
ground,  but  it  is  an  honor  to  act  bravely  in  the  day  of 
battle.  It  is  no  faint,  or  feeble,  or  fickle  effort  that  will 
secure  your  salvation.  If  you  would  be  saved,  you  must 
press  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  that  putteth  his  hand 
to  the  plow,  and  looketh  back,  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  It  is  not  enough  to  be  a  Christian  in  heart,  you 
must  be  one  in  life.  It  is  not  enough  to  read  sermons  at 
home ;  which  is  not  often  done,  after  all.  You  must  honor 
God's  word,  and  house,  and  Sabbath,  by  witnessing  with 
the  solemn  assemblies  of  his  people  your  faith  in  His  Son 
and  your  attachment  to  Him.  You  cannot  be  a  secret 
Christian,  and  steal  along  to  heaven  without  any  body 
knowing  it.  If  you  would  be  saved,  you  must  avouch  the 
Lord  as  your  God.  Choose  ye,  then,  this  day,  whom  you 
will  serve.  And  God  give  you  grace  to  make  such  a 
choice  as  shall  make  you  forever  happy.     Amen. 


DANIEL  PROFESSEDLY  PIOUS.  291 


LECTURE  XIV. 


On  Dan.,  vL,  13-17,  and  24 

Summary. — Interdict  of  Prayer  not  so  cruel  as  to  be  improbable. — Collateral 
History. — Xenophon, — Be  Sacy. — Grotefend. — Daniel  not  a  Defaulter. — 
How  the  Decree  was  obtained. — Nero,  Haynau,  Duke  of  Tuscany. — God 
worked  Miracles. — Professor  Stuart. — Cunning  and  Meanness  of  DanieVs 
Accusers. — Iheir  Success. — The  King's  Character. — Difference  between  Baby- 
lon and  Persia. — King's  Heart  with  Daniel, —  Church  Members  rebuked. — 
Every  Atom  has  its  Place  and  Laws. —  Tour  Diamond. —  Was  Darius 
Converted,  or  were  his  Words  an  unconscious  Prophecy  ? —  Young  Men  must 
take  a  bold  and  open  Stand  for  God. — Daniel  was  a  Man  pre-eminent  for 
Prayer. — Praying  Statesmen. — Congressional  Prayer-meeting . 

L  In  previous  Lectures  we  have  seen  that  Daniel  was 
a  public  man — -a  model  statesman — a  prime  minister  of 
extraordinary  talent  for  government,  and  distinguished 
for  diligence,  honesty,  and  piety.  Being  a  plain,  unosten- 
tatious, tried  man,  to  whom  all  persons  in  official  stations 
under  him  had  access,  it  was  easy  for  his  enemies,  who 
were  now  conspiring  against  his  life,  to  acquaint  them- 
selves with  his  religious  faith  and  pious  habits.  Daniel 
was  not  one  of  those  who  vainly  think  they  can  be  relig- 
ious without  letting  any  body  know  it.  He  professed 
what  he  felt.  He  acted  out  openly  what  he  believed. 
He  was  a  man  of  regular  and  known  habits.  He  had  at 
least  three  stated  hours  for  prayer  in  his  private  chamber, 
with  windows  open  toward  Jerusalem  ;  but  in  thus  con 


^92  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

tinually  serving  his  God  he  violated  the  kingrs  decree,  and 
exposed  himself  to  death  by  ravenous  beasts. 

Head  here  verses  13-17',  and  24. 

II.  But  it  is  said,  This  decree  of  Darius,  that  no  prayer 
or  request  for  thirty  days  should  be  made  of  God  or  man, 
except  of  himself — a  decree  that  could  proceed  only  from 
a  madman — is  a  thing  incredible.  To  this  I  answer,  1.  It 
may  be  said  truly  that  the  author  of  such  a  decree  de- 
served a  madhouse  rather  than  a  palace ;  but  even  kings 
do  not  always  receive  their  just  deserts  at  once. 

2.  It  is  not,  however,  so  improbable  a  thing  as  that  its 
record  should  throw  disbelief  over  the  whole  narrative. 
You  know  that  when  Themistocles  fled  from  Athens  to 
Persia,  and  wished  to  be  presented  to  the  king,  the  cour- 
tier Artabanus  said  to  him,  "It  is  our  custom  to  honor 
the  king,  and  worship  the  image  of  God,  who  preserves 
all  things."  And  you  know,  also,  that  Xenophon  blames 
the  Persians  because  "  they  thought  themselves  worthy 
of  enjoying  the  honors  of  the  gods."  They  worship  a 
mortal  man,  and  call  him  a  divinity,  and  had  rather  treat 
the  gods  with  neglect  than  their  fellow-men."*  The  king 
was  considered  among  the  Persians  as  worthy  of  homage, 
being  the  symbol  or  personification  of  Ormusd.  Alexan- 
der the  Great,  in  imitation  of  the  Persian  kings,  required 
divine  honors  to  be  paid  him  on  his  entrance  into  Baby- 
lon. The  great  scholar  De  Sacy  says  "  that  the  Persian 
kings  call  themselves  the  celestial  germ  of  the  race  of  the 
gods."  On  the  ruins  of  Persepolis  recently  brought  to 
light,  kings  are  evidently  presented  as  objects  of  adora- 

*  See  the  original  references  in  Stuart,  in  loco. 


DECREE  NOT  IMPROBABLE.— EXAMPLES.  293 

tion.*  It  can  no  longer  be  a  matter  of  doubt  that  the 
Persians  did  require  men  to  pay  supreme  homage  to  their 
king  as  the  representative  of  their  god  Ormusd.  There 
are,  then,  no  special  marks  of  improbability  in  the  narra- 
tive of  the  importunity  of  the  king's  courtiers  and  nobles. 
The  king  was  a  weak,  vain,  ambitious  man. 

Daniel's  enemies  knew  well  the  weak  points  of  their 
sovereign.  They  knew  that  it  would  gratify  his  vanity  to 
have  such  a  decree  made  as  they  proposed.  They  knew, 
also,  the  character  of  Daniel.  They  knew  that  he  was 
distinguished  for  ardent  piety  and  decision  of  character. 
They  were  satisfied  nothing  could  be  found  against  him 
save  in  the  matter  of  his  religion.  He  was  not  a  defaulter 
to  the  government.  He  could  not  be  charged  with  neg- 
lecting the  king's  interests  in  any  way.  As  Darius, 
moreover,  was  addicted  to  an  excessive  use  of  wine,  it  is 
not  improbable  that  the  affair  was  transacted  near  the 
close  of  a  banquet,  and  proposed  and  carried  with  many 
loud  professions  of  reverence,  loyalty,  and  honor  toward 
the  king.  Is  there,  then,  such  a  want  of  probability  in 
the  narrative  as  to  throw  discredit  over  the  history  of  the 
whole  matter  ?  Have  drunken  despots  never  committed 
as  outrageous  and  absurd  acts  as  this  ?  The  king  designed 
to  gratify  his  own  vanity.  He  did  not  think  of  the  con- 
sequences. Nor  is  history  without  parallels.  Nero,  Cali- 
gula, Herod  the  Great,  Genghis  Khan,  the  authors  of  the 
Saint  Bartholomew  massacre,  Haynau,  and  even  the 
amiable  Duke  of  Tuscany,  could  perpetrate  such  things 

*  Grotefend  says  on  one  of  these  ruins  is  the  inscription,  Stirps  mundi 


UJ^I7■IlSIT7, 


294  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

without  at  all  throwing  their  histories  into  fables.  Nor 
is  the  charge  of  intolerance  against  the  king's  decree,  in 
the  last  part  of  the  chapter,  worthy  of  extended  remark. 
It  is  probable  that  such  a  king  as  Darius,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, would  have  acted  just  as  our  narrative  says 
he  did  act.  It  was  a  Persian  custom  to  inflict  capital 
punishment  on  criminals  by  throwing  them  into  a  den  of 
lions.  The  covering  of  the  pit  was  not  necessarily  so 
tight,  though  sealed,  as  to  exclude  air.  There  may  have 
been  sufficient  side  avenues  for  light  and  air,  without  at 
all  interfering  with  the  closing  up  of  the  mouth.  It  was 
also  usual  in  the  East  to  destroy  whole  families  for  the 
offense  of  the  head.  In  England,  to  this  day,  treason 
taints  the  blood  and  confiscates  the  property  otherwise 
inalienable.  In  what,  then,  was  the  persecution  or  intol- 
erance of  the  king's  decree  so  remarkable,  as  to  throw 
such  an  air  of  suspicion  over  the  history?  The  king, 
under  the  excitement  of  Daniel's  miraculous  deliverance, 
as  Nebuchadnezzar  had,  under  similar  feelings,  done  be- 
fore, calls  upon  his  subjects  to  do  homage  to  the  God  of 
Daniel.  He  does  not  forbid  them  to  continue  their  own 
worship,  nor  compel  them  to  become  Jews,  nor  even 
annex  a  penalty  for  disobedience  to  his  mandate. 

And  as  to  the  argument  against  the  narrative,  because 
it  implies  and  affirms,  indeed,  as  the  king's  edict  does,  that 
God  did  worJc  miracles>  it  is  only  necessary  now  to  say, 
that  it  rests  entirely  upon  the  assumption  that  miracles 
are  impossible  and  absurd.  This  assumption,  I  am  per- 
suaded, you  are  not  willing  to  take.  Such  an  assumption 
is  certainly  no  legitimate  argument.  Nor  is  it  within 
my  present*  scope  to  enter  the  field  of  miracles.    It  is 


MIEACLES  NOT  IMPOSSIBLE,  BUT  PROBABLE.         295 

certainly  clear  from  the  Scriptures  that  God  has,  for  im- 
portant ends,  and  with  special  designs,  such  as  appear  in 
the  history  of  Daniel,  wrought  signs  and  wonders.  Nor 
has  it  ever  been  shown  that  such  miraculous  interposi- 
tions are  contrary  to  reason  or  inconsistent  with  the  Divine 
economy.  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  adopt  the  language 
of  the  late  lamented  Professor  Stuart  on  this  subject,  and 
say  "  that  one  must  needs  feel  himself  hard  pressed  who 
resorts  to  such  objections.  It  is  a  confession  which  im- 
ports that  he  who  makes  it,  is  conscious  of  weakness  in  his 
cause.  Simple  candor  and  consciousness  of  a  good  cause 
are  not  apt  to  lead  men  to  employ  argumentation  so 
captious."— P.  173. 

III.  The  duplicity ',  and  cunning,  and  meanness  of  Dan- 
iel's accusers  are  seen  in  their  pretexts.  Unable  to  find 
fault  with  Daniel's  official  conduct,  they  set  about  ensnar- 
ing him  in  the  matter  of  his  religion.  They  pretended  to 
be  actuated  solely  by  their  anxiety  for  the  honor  of  the 
king  in  urging  him  to  pass  the  decree  against  prayer  to 
God,  while  in  reality  their  sole  design  was  to  entrap 
Daniel ;  and,  having  obtained  the  king's  signature  to  the 
decree,  they  go  to  Daniel's  house  at  the  hour  when  they 
knew  he  was  accustomed  to  perform  his  devotions.  They 
may  have  professed  to  come  on  business,  while  their  real 
design  was  to  get  proof  against  him  to  take  away  his  life. 
The  enemies  of  truth  and  righteousness  are  always  char- 
acterized for  duplicity  and  cunning.  Satan,  as  the  grand 
enemy  of  God  and  man,  is  said  in  the  Bible  to  have  a 
face  like  a  lamb,  and  yet  speaks  as  a  dragon.  The  Greeks 
bringing  gifts  are  always  to  he  feared.  The  outward 
aspect  of  the  agents  of  evil  is  generally  smooth,  and  harm- 


LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

less,  and  benignant,  as  if  they  were  a  compound  of  gentle- 
ness and  innocence,  while,  in  reality,  their  spirit  is  fierce, 
and  their  designs  murderous  to  the  soul.  The  malignant 
enemies  of  godliness  usually  mask  their  treacherous  pur- 
poses underneath  a  smooth  and  often  polished  exterior. 
They  seldom  go  straight  to  their  purpose  ;  they  look  one 
way  and  move  another ;  they  come  down  upon  the  Lord's 
hosts,  not  with  the  sword,  and  the  shield,  and  the  spear, 
but  with  the  gin,  and  the  snare,  and  the  net.  Like  beasts 
of  prey,  they  crouch,  and  conceal  themselves,  until  they 
can  make  an  advantageous  spring  upon  their  unsuspecting 
foe.  It  is  thus  the  sons  of  Belial  in  olden  time,  and  now 
the  Jesuit  and  the  Puseyite,  and  the  enemy  of  civil  liberty 
and  popular  education  in  our  times,  endeavor  to  effect 
their  designs.  As  the  Bible  says,  "  He  lieth  in  wait 
secretly,  as  a  lion  in  his  den ;  he  lieth  in  wait  to  catch  the 
poor,  when  he  draweth  him  into  his  net.  He  croucheth 
and  humbleth  himself,  that  the  poor  may  fall  by  his  strong 
ones." 

IV.  The  charge  against  Daniel  is  stated  in  verses  12 
and  13.  They  recited  the  decree  without  saying  a  word 
about  Daniel.  They  obtained  the  king's  assent  that  such 
was  the  decree,  and  that,  according  to  the  law  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians,  it  could  not  be  altered.  This  was 
just  what  they  desired. 

Doubtless  they  proceeded  thus  cautiously,  because  they 
knew  that  the  king  was  attached  to  Daniel.  It  was  not 
till  they  had  gotten  the  king  to  commit  himself  to  the 
correctness  of  the  decree,  and  as  to  the  unchangeableness 
of  a  Persian  edict,  that  they  ventured  to  inform  him  who 
it  was  that  violated  it,  and,  in  defiance  of  it,  continued  to 


THEIR  ACCUSATIONS  FALSE  AND  CUNNING.  297 

pray,  as  aforetime,  three  times  a  day  to  his  God.  This 
information  they  made  known  to  the  king  in  the  most 
ensnaring  and  insidious  terms.  They  tell  him  that 
Daniel,  which  is  of  the  children  of  the  captivity  of  Ju- 
dah,  regardeth  not  thee,  0  king,  nor  the  decree  that  thou 
hast  signed,  hut  maketh  his  petition  three  times  a  day. 
They  pretend  that  Daniel's  disobedience  arose  from  want 
of  respect  to  the  king,  and  disaffection  toward  his  govern- 
ment. By  this  statement  they  sought  to  rouse  the  king's 
personal  feelings,  and  to  awaken  his  political  jealousy ; 
and,  under  all,  to  heighten  the  enormity  of  Daniel's  dis- 
obedience, by  reminding  the  king  of  his  base  ingratitude. 
He  was  a  Jew,  a  captive,  a  professor  of  a  hated  foreign 
religion.  He  had  been  highly  honored  ;  and  yet  this  is 
his  gratitude  :  "  He  regardeth  not  thee,  O  king,  nor  the 
decree  that  thou  hast  signed."  The  charge  was,  however, 
palpably  false.  It  was  not  from  any  want  of  respect  to 
the  king's  person,  nor  any  disposition  to  set  at  naught  the 
king's  laws  as  such  and  in  themselves  considered,  apart 
from  his  higher  duty  to  God,  nor  was  it  for  the  want  of 
gratitude.  Daniel's  whole  conduct  was  the  legitimate 
result  of  his  pious  education.  He  acted  from  a  solemn 
sense  of  duty  to  his  God,  the  Judge  of  all  men,  kings  as 
well  as  others.  He  could  not  elevate  any  creature  above 
his  Creator ;  he  could  not  erect  the  palace  of  loyalty  on 
the  grave  of  the  religion  of  Jehovah.  The  principles, 
also,  involved  in  the  charge  of  these  men  against  Daniel 
were  utterly  false.  They  not  only  sapped  the  foundations 
of  morality,  but  they  were  fraught  with  danger  to  the 
state. 

It  was  not  correct  to  say  that  the  man  who  dared  not  to 


298  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

disobey  his  God  was,  on  that  account,  an  enemy  to  the 
state.  It  is  not  true  that  conscientious  men  and  pious 
men  are  traitors  to  the  state  ;  and  yet  this  is  the  stereo- 
typed charge  against  them.  In  distant  and  widely  differ- 
ent countries  and  ages,  the  people  of  God  haVe  been 
assailed  again  and  again  with  this  false  accusation.  It  is 
the  custom  of  their  enemies  to  asperse  and  blacken  their 
characters,  just  as  these  men  attempted  to  destroy  Daniel. 
Their  loyalty  was  but  a  pretense.  Their  regard  for  the 
majesty  of  the  laws  of  Persia,  and  their  respect  for  the 
kkig,  were  entirely  hypocritical.  They  cared  nothing  for 
either.  Their  object  was  to  gratify  their  envy,  and  ad- 
vance their  own  selfish  views.  Our  blessed  Lord  (Luke, 
xviii.)  connects  a  want  of  fear  for  God  with  a  want  of  regard 
to  man ;  and  history  shows  that,  so  far  from  being  antago- 
nistic, they  are  essentially  and  organically  related.  Intel- 
ligent piety  and  the  highest  civil  virtues  have  ever  been 
consistent.  The  best  statesmen,  priests,  and  civilians,  and 
the  ablest  and  most  successful  military  leaders,  have  been 
Christian  men.  The  maxim  advanced  by  the  conspirators 
against  Daniel  was  blasphemous  and  atheistical.  The  de- 
cree which  they  induced  the  king  to  make  exalted  the  king 
to  the  throne  of  the  Deity.  And  Daniel's  continuing  to 
pray  to  his  God,  they  said,  was  proof  that  he  disregarded 
both  the  king  and  his  government ;  as  if  they  had  said, 
"  The  man  who  regards  thee,  O  king,  will  not  regard  his 
God,  if  thou  shalt  forbid  him  to  do  so.  Thou  hast  a  right 
to  forbid  any  of  thy  subjects  to  pray  to  the  God  of  hea- 
ven. Thou  canst  absolve  thy  subjects  from  their  allegi- 
ance to  the  Creator  ;  and  as  Daniel  persists  in  praying  to 
his  God,  therefore  he  is  thy  personal  enemy,  and  should 


DARIUS  AND  NEBUCHADNEZZAR  COMPARED.         299 

be  put  to  death."  False  and  groundless  as  the  charge 
was,  such  was  the  weakness  of  the  king,  and  such  the 
customs  of  the  Persians,  that,  notwithstanding  the  king's 
personal  friendship  for  Daniel,  the  decree  is  executed, 
and  he  is  cast  into  the  lion's  den. — V.  14. 

The  king  labored  hard  to  save  Daniel,  even  "  till  the 
going  down  of  the  sun,  to  deliver  him,"  but  in  vain.  His 
conduct  was  very  different  from  that  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
on  a  similar  occasion.  When  the  young  Hebrews  refused 
to  fall  down  and  worship  the  great  golden  image  he  had  set 
up  in  the  plains  of  Dura,  he  was  "full  of  rage  and  fury," 
and  commanded  them  to  be  cast  at  once  into  the  furnace. 
Proud,  imperious,  self-willed,  and  passionate,  he  could 
not  bear  disobedience  for  a  moment.  However  cruel  and 
unreasonable  his  commands  were,  he  would  have  them 
obeyed  without  a  word  or  a  moment's  delay.  Not  so  with 
Darius.  He  was  a  different  sort  of  a  man.  Yain,  rather 
than  proud,  he  wished  to  be  loved  rather  than  to  be  fear- 
ed. Easily  flattered,  and  of  a  compliant  disposition,-with 
some  generousness  of  heart,  he  was  misled  by  his  nobles. 
But  now  that  the  truth  has  flashed  upon  his  mind,  and  he 
sees  their  artifice,  "he  was  sore  displeased  with  himself, 
and  set  his  heart  on  Daniel  to  deliver  him."  He  was  not 
enraged  with  Daniel  for  having  dared  to  disobey  his  edict. 
His  displeasure  took  the  right  direction.  It  went  inward 
upon  his  own  heart.  He  sees  at  once  the  folly  of  which 
he  has  made  himself  guilty.  As  yet  he  says  nothing  of 
the  deceitful,  base,  and  insulting  conduct  of  his  nobles. 
He  stops  not  to  tell  them  how  he  regarded  their  attempt 
to  make  him  the  blind  and  degraded  tool  of  their  own 
malignity.     He  does  not  say  as  Adam  did,  "  The  woman 


300  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL 

which  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,  she  gave  me  of  the  tree, 
and  I  did  eat."  He  did  not  say  as  Eye  did,  "  The  serpent 
beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat."  Darius  reads  no  homily  on 
the  frauds  of  his  courtiers.  He  urges  no  plea  to  justify 
himself,  but  sets  about  effecting  Daniel's  deliverance. 
He  is  sore  displeased  with  himself,  and  desires  to  arrest  the 
evil  as  far  as  he  can.  He  exerts  his  ingenuity  to  discover, 
if  possible,  some  method  of  evading  the  law.  He  tries  to 
persuade  the  Persian  nobles  not  to  insist  upon  the  execu- 
tion of  the  edict.  He  calls  upon  them  in  private.  They 
seem  to  relent.  He  assembles  the  Divan.  It  is  a  re- 
markable contest  between  the  king  and  his  parliament, 
between  the  president  and  his  cabinet ;  but,  encouraging 
one  another,  they  become  bolder  and  more  cruel  when 
assembled  than  when  seen  separately  by  the  king  in  their 
own  houses.  The  princes  sternly  refuse  to  let  Daniel 
escape.  All  their  boasted  loyalty  has  suddenly  vanished. 
They  will  not  grant  a  single  petition  to  him  whom  they 
had  made  the  only  god  in  Persia  for  thirty  days.  What 
a  struggle  must  this  have  been !  How  unfortunate  the 
position  of  the  monarch !  encompassed  by  an  assembly  of 
designing,  unprincipled  villains,  and  bound  hand  and  foot 
by  his  own  rash  decree.  This  should  teach  us  to  turn  our 
eyes  inward — to  guard  well  our  own  hearts  ;  for  out  of 
them  are  the  issues  of  evil.  We  should  ponder  well  all  our 
footsteps.  One  rash  act  may  do  what  we  shall  never  be 
able  to  retrieve. 

Y.  Read  here  verse  15. 

Such*  an  assembly  around  the  throne  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
or  of  Napoleon,  or  before  Cromwell  or  Andrew  Jackson, 
would  have  met  with  a  very  different  reception.     But  the 


EXAMPLES.— REX  LEX.  301 

case  before  us  is  one  of  those  remarkable  and  undesigned 
coincidences  that  prove  the  truthfulness  of  the  history. 
It  illustrates  the  character  of  Darius,  and  the  peculiarity 
of  Persian  law.  The  incidents  of  this  sixth  chapter  could 
not  have  been  true  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  of  the  Chal- 
dean empire  ;  but  history  informs  us  they  might  be,  and 
actually  were,  true  of  Darius  and  of  the  Persian  empire. 
The  Chaldean  emperor  would  have  ordered  these  cour- 
tiers to  instant  execution.  His  power  was  supreme  and 
arbitrary.  In  Babylon  it  was  Rex  Lex — the  king  was 
law,  just  as  it  is  now  in  France  with  her  autocrat.  In 
Persia  it  was  different.  They  had  a  constitution.  There 
it  was  Lex  Rex — the  law  was  king.  A  law  once  enacted 
by  the  proper  authority  was  not  only  supreme,  but  un- 
changeable. This  was  both  ridiculous  and  impious  in  the 
case  of  Daniel.  It  was  wrong  ever  to  have  made  such  a 
fundamental  law,  and  now  that  it  had  been  made,  and 
was  found  to  be  against  reason,  morality,  and  religion,  it 
should  have  been  instantly  repealed.  As  all  human  power 
springs  from  God,  so  the  obligation  to  obey  ceases  when 
the  obedience  required  comes  into  collision  with  our  duty 
to  God.  In  preserving  his  conscience,  and  disobeying  the 
edict,  Daniel  was  right ;  his  conduct  was  noble,  heroic, 
and  sublime.  And  so  when  Darius  found  the  folly  and 
egregious  iniquity  of  his  decree,  and  saw  the  artifice  of 
his  nobles,  he  ought  to  have  put  his  own  life  and  the  ex- 
istence of  his  empire  into  peril,  rather  than  to  ha 
executed  it.  If  nothing  else  would  do,  he  ought  to  have 
gone  to  the  lion's  den  himself,  rather  than  have  signed 
the  warrant  for  casting  Daniel  into  it.  The  claims  of 
expediency,  however,  prevail,  as  they  did  in  the  case  of 


302  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

Herod  against  John  the  Baptist,  and  with  Pilate  against 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  impelled,  like  Jephtha,  by  a  rash  de- 
cree, the  king  commanded,  and  they  brought  Daniel,  and 
cast  him  into  the  den  of  lions. 

What  a  sight  is  this !  Cruel  policy  prevails  over  friend- 
ship and  over  the  most  eminent  worth.  A  venerable 
servant  of  God  is  given  to  the  wild  beasts.  Daniel,  the 
aged  prime  minister  of  the  Persian  empire,  and  the  head 
of  all  the  professors  of  the  true  religion  then  in  the  world, 
is  cast  into  the  lions'  den ;  but  for  what  ?  Simply  for 
continuing  to  pray  to  God,  as  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
do  all  his  life.  "  Now  the  king  spake  and  said  unto  Dan- 
iel, Thy  God,  whom  thou  servest  continually,  He  will 
deliver  thee.  And  a  stone  was  brought,  and  laid  upon 
the  mouth  of  the  den ;  and  the  king  sealed  it  with  his  own 
signet,  and  with  the  signet  of  his  lords,  that  the  purpose 
might  not  be  changed  concerning  Daniel." 

These  words  of  the  king  to  Daniel  are  remarkable  on 
several  accounts.  The  king  seems  to  say,  "  My  heart,  as 
a  man,  goes  with  thee,  O  thou  incomparable  man  of  God, 
in  opposition  to  my  act  as  a  king.  I  have  done  all  I  could 
to  deliver  thee,  but  I  have  failed.  I  commit  thee  in  hope 
to  Him  whom  thou  servest  continually.  Thy  God  will 
deliver  thee."  Was  this  the  king's  hope?  was  it  his 
fervent  prayer?  or  had  the  king  been  made  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  Daniel  and  his  three  friends  in  Baby- 
lon, and  with  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation,  so  far  as 
to  believe  in  the  reality  of  Divine  interposition  by  angels 
and  miracles  for  the  deliverance  of  the  worshipers  of 
Jehovah  ?  Had  Darius  ever  heard  of  the  Jewish  Scrip- 
ture, which  says,  "  Fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee ;  be  not 


THE  SENTENCE.— PERSUASIVE  ELOQUENCE.         303 

dismayed,  for  I  am  thy  God.  I  will  strengthen  thee  ;  yea, 
I  will  help  thee ;  yea,  I  will  uphold  thee  with  the  right 
hand  of  my  righteousness.  I  will  give  mine  angels  charge 
concerning  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways.  Thou  shalt 
tread  upon  the  lion  and  adder ;  the  young  lion  and  dragon 
shalt  thou  trample  under  foot." 

Or  are  we  to  understand  these  memorable  words  of 
King  Darius  to  Daniel  as  a  true  prophecy  ?  Was  he  led 
unconsciously  to  utter  them  by  a  divine  impulse  for  the 
encouragement  of  Daniel  ?  Some  understand  these  words, 
together  with  the  decree  in  the  last  of  the  chapter,  as 
evidence  of  Darius'  true  conversion — so  Dr.  Cumming. 
If  so,  then  the  king,  by  means  of  Daniel's  instruction  and 
example,  was  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God. 
And  why  should  this  be  thought  a  thing  incredible? 
Were  not  the  integrity,  the  meekness,  the  magnanimity, 
the  gentleness,  the  patience,  the  submission  of  Daniel 
such  an  exponent  of  his  religion  as  to  make  the  king  ask 
after  its  doctrines  ?  and  were  there  no  lessons  in  Daniel's 
prayers  that  spoke  to  the  king's  inner  man  ?  Is  not  the 
grace  of  God  quite  sufficient  for  the  conversion  of  kings 
and  statesmen  ?  and  should  we  not  pray  fervently  for  the 
conversion  and  eminent  piety  of  all  our  leading  men? 
They  need  the  grace  of  God  for  themselves  and  for  our 
sakes.  We  have  here,  moreover,  a  striking  illustration 
of  the  variety  of  means  which  it  pleases  God  to  use  in 
producing  the  conversion  of  men.  It  is  not  only  the  truth 
as  believed,  but  the  lives  that  Christians  lead,  and  the 
deaths  that  Christians  die,  that  produce  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  men  in  behalf  of  Christianity.  The  sick-beds 
of  some  of  the  humblest  followers  of  Christ  have  exceeded 


304  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

the  most  learned  pulpits  in  persuasive  eloquence,  and 
dying  martyrs  have  made  conversions  that  living  apostles 
were  never  honored  with.  When  soliciting,  the  other 
day,  a  friend,  who  is  not  a  member  of  the  Church,  for  his 
influence  and  contribution  to  advance  the  cause  of  the 
Saviour  in  the  city,  he  said,  "  Go  to  the  members  of  the 
Church ;  many  of  them  are  more  wealthy  than  I  am. 
They  have  not  given  any  thing.  Get  them  all  to  do  what 
they  can,  and  then  I,  as  an  outsider,  will  help  you." 
These  are  his  exact  words.  He  is  a  liberal,  high-minded 
man.  His  excuse  was  not  a  good  one ;  but  I  shall  never 
forget  it.  It  was  humiliating  and  mortifying  to  be  com- 
pelled to  feel  that  such  accusations  are  just  against  our 
professed  followers  of  Christ.  I  name  the  case  now  sim- 
ply to  illustrate  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  man, 
much  less  a  Christian,  to  live  to  himself;  nor  can  a  Chris- 
tian die  to  himself.  Every  atom  and  every  planet  has  its 
place  and  orbit — a  place  and  orbit  that  no  other  atom  or 
planet  can  fill.  The  Creator  has  given  to  every  particle 
of  matter,  and  every  globe  and  system  in  the  vast  uni- 
verse, its  own  proper  place,  and  impressed  upon  it  certain 
laws ;  and  so  every  human  being  has  his  or  her  place, 
and  his  or  her  duties  assigned  by  the  Creator,  from  the 
performance  of  which  there  can  be  no  exemption.  In- 
dividual accountability  to  God  is  as  inseparable  from 
every  one  of  you  as  your  identity  and  immortality.  What 
if  God,  my  young  friend,  should  place  in  your  hand 
a  diamond,  and  tell  you  to  inscribe  on  it  a  sentence 
which  should  be  read  on  the  last  day,  and  shown  there 
as  an  index  of  your  own  thoughts  and  feelings  ?  What 
caution  and  anxiety  would  you  feel  about  the  selection 


THE  DIAMOND.— GOD'S  AGENTS.  305 

of  that  sentence!  JSow  God  has  given  you  something 
more  imperishable  and  precious  than  a  diamond.  He 
lias  placed  before  you  immortal  minds,  on  which,  by 
your  example,  your  principles,  and  influence,  you  in- 
scribe every  day  and  every  hour  something  which  will 
remain  and  be  exhibited,  for  or  against  you,  at  the  judg- 
ment-day. He  has  commissioned  all  the  elements  of  na- 
ture to  take  your  daguerreotype  likeness — the  likeness 
of  your  inmost  soul  through  life,  and  the  true  nature  and 
extent  of  all  your  influence  upon  your  fellow-men — and 
these  pictures  will  all  be  exhibited  for  your  acquittal  or 
condemnation  at  the  trial  of  the  last  day. 

Happy  as  I  should  be  to  dwell  on  the  conversion  of 
King  Darius,  I  cannot  insist  upon  it,  for  the  text  does  not 
fully  establish  it.  The  lessons  I  have  just  pointed  out 
are,  however,  true.  His  words  may  be  understood  as 
expressive  of  his  regret  and  pity,  and  as  a  sort  of  apology 
for  his  severity  toward  such  an  aged  and  eminent  servant, 
whom  he  really  loved.  It  is  possible,  also,  that  God 
made  the  king  utter  an  unconscious  prophecy  of  Daniel's 
deliverance.  Balaam  and  Saul  were  prophets,  though  not 
saints.  God  has  made  men  that  were  not  pious  predict 
truths  of  which  they  themselves  knew  not  the  glory. 
Caiaphas,  being  high-priest,  gave  counsel  to  the  Jews, 
saying,  "  It  was  expedient  that  some  one  should  die  for 
the  people."  In  this  Caiaphas  was  the  trumpet  of  a  glo- 
rious prophecy.  God  made  the  Chaldean  empire  his  ham- 
mer, and  Cyrus  his  battle-axe,  to  execute  his  judgments 
upon  the  earth,  and  especially  against  the  enemies  of  his 
people.     So  the  Bible  expressly  says.     God  makes  the 

wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  the  remainder  thereof 

20 


306  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

He  restraineth,  that  his  people  may  learn  to  trust  in  Him 
always,  and  that  all  men  may  see  that  all  things  are  under 
the  power  and  control  of  Him  who  holds  the  reins,  and 
sways  the  sceptre  of  the  universe. 

"With  two  lessons  briefly  stated,  I  close  this  lecture. 

First.  Young  men  are  taught  here  to  expect  that  GooVs 
providence  will  sometimes  place  them  in  such  circum- 
stances, that  an  open,  bold,  avowed  performance  of  reli- 
gious duty  and  adherence  to  principle  will  be  the  test  of 
their  fidelity  to  Sim.  It  is  not  profession,  nor  equivoca- 
tion, that  will  do  ;  but  a  steadfast  adherence  to  principle, 
and  an  open,  straightforward  performance  of  duty.  The 
king's  edict  was  against  prayer.  It  was  prayer  aloud  that 
exposed  Daniel  to  the  lions'  den.  The  performance  of 
prayer  in  his  usual  way  was,  therefore,  the  test  of  his 
fidelity  to  God.  It  is  useless  for  us  to  imagine  how  Daniel 
could  have  employed  the  thirty  days.  There  were  doubt- 
less many  things  which  in  themselves  and  at  other  times 
would  have  been  proper,  but  which,  as  substitutes  for 
prayer  were  not  available.  He  might  have  shut  himself 
up  to  study  the  books  of  Moses,  or  to  read  Jeremiah,  and 
see  when  the  captivity  was  to  come  to  an  end.  He  might 
have  spent  his  time  weeping  and  singing  by  the  willows 
beside  the  rivers  of  Babylon.  He  might  have  set  about 
some  great  scheme  to  induce  his  monarch  to  release  his 
countrymen,  and  have  offered  this  as  an  excuse  to  his 
conscience  for  neglecting  his  prayers ;  but  all  or  any  of 
these  things  would  have  been  unacceptable  to  God.  He 
remained  faithful,  and  prayed  as  he  had  done  aforetime. 
It  is  certainly  no  availing  plea  with  our  Maker  that  the 
performance  of  our  duty  exposes  us  to  danger.    No  degree 


DUTY  AND  PRAYER  OURS  AND  REST  GOD'S.         307 

of  danger  can  justify  us  in  concealing  our  attachment  to 
God  ;  it  is  not  for  us  to  choose  the  circumstances  in  which 
we  shall  be  called  to  the  performance  of  duty.  It  is  nor 
for  us  to  ask  questions,  but  to  obey.     Duty  is  ouks,  con 

SEQUENCES  ARE  God's, 

Finally,  this  page  of  the  inner  life  of  the  prime 
minister  of  King  Darius  contains  a  most  earnest  recom- 
mendation of  prayer.  You  see  what  Daniel's  habits 
were.  He  was  evidently  known  to  be  a  praying  man. 
He  did  not  begin  to  pray  now  that  he  was  in  danger.  It 
was  no  family  bereavement,  it  was  not  severe  sickness  or 
the  fear  of  death  that  made  him  retire  into  his  chamber 
for  prayer.  He  prayed  and  gave  thanks  before  his  God, 
as  he  did  aforetime.  He  was  the  chief  of  the  prefects  or 
presidents,  the  first  man  next  to  the  king  in  the  empire ; 
yet  he  was  a  man  of  prayer.  Rank  and  station,  official 
duties,  power  and  influence,  do  not,  therefore,  furnish 
sufficient  reasons  for  neglecting  secret  and  family  prayer. 
It  is  impossible  to  be  a  genuine  Christian  and  live  a 
prayerless  life.  There  is  no  reality  in  our  profession  of 
religion  if  we  have  not  communion  with  God. 

Daniel  had  set  times  for  prayer  ;•  and  if  we  would  de- 
rive the  full  advantage  which  may  be  obtained  from 
prayer,  we  must  have  stated  times  for  engaging  in  it. 
Without  set  times  of  prayer,  there  is  imminent  danger  ot 
its  being  omitted  or  crowded  out.  Mere  forms  in  religion 
are  to  be  avoided  ;  but  regularity  ought  to  be  cultivated. 
Without  order  in  our  affairs,  we  shall  always  be  liable  to 
interruptions  and  confusion.  Regularity  will  in  due  time 
ripen  into  a  habit ;  and  that  which  at  first  seemed  a  griev- 
ous burden,  by  practice  will  become  light.     If  Daniel, 


308  LECTUBlflS  ON  DANIEL, 

with  all  the  affairs  of  an  empire  to  manage,  found  time, 
three  stated  times  a  day,  for  calling  on  the  name  of  God;, 
surely  none  of  you  can  plead  the  want  of  time  for  this 
purpose.  "  Prayer  and  provender  hinder  not  the  journey." 
"  To  have  prayed  well,  is  to  study  well."  "  In  all  thy  ways 
acknowledge  thou  Him,  and  He  will  direct  thy  steps." 
Daniel's  inner  life  was  fed  by  prayer,  and  hence  his  outer 
life  was  characterized  by  integrity,  justice,  heroism,  mag- 
nanimity, and  faithfulness.  His  home  habits  made  his 
court  habits  so  beautiful,  and  just,  and  true.  His  private 
intercourse  with  God  made  his  public  character  so  con- 
sistent. An  hour  in  the  "  upper  chamber"  in  communion 
with  God  is  worth  many  hours  in  the  cabinet.  I  have 
said  before  that  I  believe  God  has  not  given  to  any  nation 
for  so  long  a  time  rulers  so  able,  pure,  and  patriotic  as 
we  have  had ;  and  I  am  not  aware  that  any  thing  like  our 
Congressional  prayer-meeting  has  ever  been  known  in 
the  courts  of  Europe.  Our  leading  men,  thank  God, 
have  been  and  are  religious  men,  men  of  religious  edu- 
cation, and  many  of  them  of  religious  habits  and  avowed 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  we  hope  will  always  be  the 
case.  It  is  impossible  for  statesmen  to  govern  the  world 
without  God.  We  cannot  expect  his  blessing  on  poli- 
ticians that  are  godless  in  their  principles  and  prayerless 
in  their  lives.  It  should  be  written  on  our  council  cham- 
bers, our  halls  of  commerce,  and  the  doors  of  our  capitols, 
By  me  kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice.  Kight- 
eousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any 

PEOPLE. 


HIS  ENEMIES  SEEMING  TO  TRIUMPH.  309 


LECTURE  XT. 

FAITH     TRIUMPHANT. 

On  Dan.,  vL,  16-24. 

State  of  Parties. — King's  Conscience. — Listen  to  yours. — King's  Visit  to  the 
j)en, — Daniel's  Night  with  the  Lions. — Servant  of  God,  highest  Appellation. 
—  God  the  Vindicator  of  His  People. — The  King's  Cruelty  not  a  thing  impro- 
bable.— Josephus'  Account  of  the  Destruction  of  DanieVs  Enemies. —  Gods 
Power  over  Lions. — God  is  not  to  be  dethroned  from  Nature  and  Providence. 
— Lieutenant  Maury  and  the  Sovereign  of  the  Seas. —  What  are  the  Laws  of 
Nature  ? — Cuvier. — Daniel's  Flesh  as  sweet  to  the  Lions'  Taste  as  that  of  his 
Enemies. — God  has  the  Reins  of  all  Animals  still. — The  Pious  every  where 
under  God's  Care. — Miser  and  Slave. —  You  are  NOW  in  God's  Presence. — 
Newton  only  followed  where  his  Creator  had  been  before  him. — Science  does 
not  overreach  the  Creator. — Faith  triumphs  over  Death. 

In  the  last  lecture  we  saw  Daniel,  the  servant  of  God 
and  prime  minister  of  Persia,  cast  into  the  lions'  den  be- 
cause he  would  obey  his  God  rather  than  his  king.  "We 
come  now  to  see  how  faith  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 
and  wrought  his  deliverance.  It  would  seem  from  the 
narrative  that  Daniel  was  dropped  as  unfeelingly  into  the 
lions'  den  as  a  pebble  is  cast  into  the  silent  sea,  to  be  for- 
gotten forever.  The  moon  and  stars  held  on  their  joyous 
way  over  the  Eastern  "World.  Our  little  globe  kept  on 
its  course,  as  if  nothing  had  happened  ;  the  wicked  seem- 
ed to  have  succeeded  to  their  hearts'  content ;  the  aged 
servant  of  God  was  cast  into  the  den  of  lions.  Now, 
thought  his  enemies,  he  will  trouble  us  no  more.  They 
supposed,  when  that   heavy  stone  was  placed  over  the 


310  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

mouth  of  the  den,  and  sealed  with  the  signet  of  the  king 
and  of  his  lords,  that  all  was  safe.  They  thought  that,  as 
no  cry  from  the  suffering  man  could  be  heard  to  excite 
sympathy — as  the  sufferings  of  the  martyred  prophet, 
while  he  was  being  devoured  by  the  hungry  lions,  were 
hidden  from  the  people,  so  there  would  be  nothing  to 
arouse  popular  indignation,  and  nothing  more  would  ever 
be  heard  of  him.  But  God's  thoughts  are  not  as  man's 
thoughts,  nor  His  ways  as  man's  ways.  Let  us  look  a 
moment  at  the  condition  of  the  three  parties.  How  did 
they  respectively  pass  this  memorable  night  ?  The  con- 
spirators returned  to  their  homes ;  they  drank  deeply, 
they  sang  merrily ;  they  congratulated  each  other  that  the 
old  Jewish  favorite  was  now  out  of  the  way — that  he  who 
feared  God,  and,  rather  than  compromise  his  allegiance 
to  his  God,  was  willing  to  live  poor,  and  to  die  a  martyr, 
would  testify  no  more  against  their  rapacity. 

And  the  poor  king — he  went  home  also.  Then  the 
king  went  to  his  j?alace,  and  passed  the  night  fasting  / 
neither  were  instruments  of  music  Drought  before  him; 
and  his  sleep  went  from  him.  How  sad  was  that  night 
for  royalty !  Filled  with  remorse  for  having  signed  the 
fatal  decree,  and  not  knowing  how  to  retrace  his  steps 
or  to  retrieve  the  effects  of  his  rash  act,  the  king  passed 
the  night  in  agony.  Ah!  it  is  true  that  most  crowns 
have  thorns.  It  is  true  that  palaces  are  magnificent  piles 
— an  Oriental  court  was  peculiarly  luxurious ;  but  what 
are  most  palaces  but  splendid  misery?  What  was  the 
crown  of  France,  the  crown  of  Louis  le  Grand,  of  Francis 
the  First,  and  of  Clovis,  a  few  years  since  ?  What  is  the 
throne  of  Naples,  and  the  head  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg, 


WHY  SLEEPS  NOT  MY  LORD,  THE  KING.  311 

but  a  mark  for  the  assassin  ?  The  one  wounded,  and  the 
other  maimed,  within  a  few  weeks,  by  subjects  who 
sought  to  encompass  their  deaths.  The  sleepless  kiug  of 
Persia  is  a  demonstration  that  conscience  can  shake  the 
stoutest  hearts.  It  is  not  nerve,  but  a  conscience  full  of 
peace,  that  makes  the  bravest  men.  There  can  be  no 
peace,  no  presence  of  mind,  no  true  heroism,  where  the 
conscience  is  lashed  with  the  scorpions  of  guilt.  Armed 
battalions  and  thick  palace  walls  cannot  keep  the  sting 
of  a  guilty  conscience  from  the  chambers  of  the  mighty. 
All  the  opiates  of  the  physicians  to  his  majesty — all  the 
drugs  of  "  Araby  the  Blest"  and  from  the  "  distant  Ind," 
cannot  woo  sweet  sleep  to  the  imperial  pillow.  JSTo 
sounds  of  music  are  heard,  all  books  are  closed,  all  tes- 
timonies are  silenced,  not  a  voice  is  lifted  up :  Why  sleeps 
not  my  lord,  the  king?  It  is  on  account  of  the  presence  of 
a  visitor  he  cannot  shut  out  from  his  bed-chamber.  His 
own  conscience,  grieved,  wronged,  offended — God's  vice- 
gerent reasoning  with  him,  rolling  over  and  over  with 
him,  and  agitating  his  royal  bosom,  and  making  him 
tremble;  this  is  the  disturber  of  his  slumbers.  The 
laborious  poor  through  his  vast  dominions  slept  sweetly. 
With  them  the  night  passed  as  a  swift  hour.  Refreshed 
with  "  Nature's  sweet  restorer,  balmy  sleep,"  they  are 
prepared  for  another  day's  toil.  But  not  so  with  the  con- 
science-tormented master  of  the  world.  He  seems  to  have 
given  full  scope  to  his  inward  monitor.  His  sleep  went 
from  him.  He  communed  with  his  heart  in  the  night 
season.  He  did  not  strive  by  pleasure,  by  company,  or 
by  dissipation,  to  lull  his  conscience  asleep.  And  in  this 
matter  the  king  set  you  a  good  example.     When  con- 


312  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

science  speaks,  attend  to  her  lessons ;  she  is  thy  friend. 
Give  ear  to  her  faintest  whispers ;  be  not  afraid  to  listen 
to  her  loudest  accusations ;  they  may  be  necessary  to  your 
soul's  welfare.  There  are  times  in  every  man's  history 
when  conscience  is  quickened,  and  is  faithful  and  tender. 
Whether  this  awakening  of  conscience  is  owing  to  some 
severe  personal  illness,  or  to  some  bereavement,  or  to  the 
reading  of  some  book,  or  to  the  preaching  of  the  Word, 
such  times  are  eras  of  immense  importance  in  the  history 
of  immortal  beings.  Such  a  turning  period  in  your  life 
may  be  just  now  passing  over  you.  Every  moment 
is  precious.  While  conscience  pleads,  and  God  calls,  it  is 
for  you  to  obey.  Habits  of  sin  may  be  so  indulged  as 
to  debilitate  and  exhaust  the  power  of  conscience.  The 
impenitent  sinner  may  be  left  for  years  without  hearing 
her  accusing  voice.  God  can,  however,  at  any  moment 
quicken  it  by  one  single  beam  of  light,  and  so  kindle 
and  inflame  it,  that  the  most  hardened  sinner  will  be 
troubled,  as  Belshazzar  was  at  the  writing  on  the  wall. 
There  is  no  torment  like  an  accusing  conscience.  Wher- 
ever a  guilty  sinner  goes,  he  carries  his  accuser  in  his 
own  bosom.  There  is  but  one  way  for  a  guilty  conscience 
to  find  peace ;  and  that  is,  to  have  it  sprinkled  by  the 
atoning  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  purified  by  the  sanc- 
tifying influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

But  there  is  a  third  party  in  the  transactions  of  this 
night  we  have  not  yet  visited.  The  courtiers  are  more 
gleesome  than  usual.  The  king  is  more  sad.  The  night 
is  awfully  tedious  to  him.  How  often  did  he  look  for  the 
streaks  of  the  morning  light !  It  seemed  to  him  as  if  the 
day  would  never  come.     But  how  was  it  with  the  servant 


DANIEL  WITH  THE  LIONS.  313 

of  God  ?  What  tidings  from  the  lions'  den  ?  Let  us  go 
with  the  king  and  see  what  has  become  of  Daniel.  Then 
the  king  arose  very  early  in  the  morning,  and  went  in 
haste  unto  ths  den  of  lions.  Does  he  find  it  the  grave  of 
the  murdered  prophet  of  Jehovah  ?  The  king,  doubtless, 
feared  to  speak ;  he  was  afraid  there  would  be  no  other 
answer  from  the  gloomy  depths  of  the  pit  than  the  echo 
of  his  own  voice,  and  the  growling  roar  of  his  royal  execu- 
tioners. But  he  must  speak :  so,  when  he  came  to  the  den, 
he  cried  with  a  lamentable  voice  unto  Daniel,  and  said, 
0  Daniel,  servant  of  the  living  God,  is  thy  God,  whom 
thou  servest  continually,  able  to  deliver  thee  from  the  lions  t 
The  king  was  probably  not  altogether  without  hope.  He 
had  no  doubt  heard  of  the  marvelous  interpositions  made 
in  behalf  of  Jehovah's  servants  in  times  past.  The  records 
of  the  empire  were  then  in  his  possession,  and  from  these 
he  may  have  learned  how  Daniel's  God  had  preserved  his 
friends  amid  the  flames  of  the  seven-fold  heated  furnace  ; 
and,  knowing  the  purity  of  Daniel's  character,  he  may 
have  concluded  that  God  would  deliver  him.  But  while 
he,  thus  half  hoping,  half  despairing,  is  afraid  to  learn  the 
result  of  his  own  inquiry — is  afraid  to  look  into  the  pit, 
let  us  look  in.  There  is  the  old  Hebrew  prophet  and 
grand  vizier  of  Persia ;  he  is  on  his  knees,  with  hands 
uplifted  and  face  toward  heaven,  beaming  with  calm 
benignity.  On  either  side  of  him,  and  before  and  behind 
him,  and  all  around  him  and  almost  touching  him,  stand, 
or  lie,  or  crouch,  the  lions  of  the  desert.  Daniel's  coun- 
tenance is  calm,  self-possessed,  buoyant  with  hope.  We 
see  no  blood,  no  scratch  from  the  teeth  or  claws  of  the 
fierce  kings  of  the  forest ;  we  see  no  crushed  bones,  no 


314  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

signs  of  violence,  no  marks  of  uneasiness.  This  night 
among  the  lions  has  been  the  happiest  night  of  his  whole 
life.  Free  from  all  cares  of  state,  and  from  every  other 
anxiety,  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  let  his  heart  com- 
mune with  his  God.  But  Daniel  is  ready  to  speak ;  and 
his  voice  that  morning  was  sweeter  to  the  king's  ears  than 
the  music  of  his  court  had  ever  been.  He  had  spent  the 
night  sick  at  heart,  but  now  he  is  filled  with  gladness. 
Then  was  the  king  exceeding  glad  for  him.  Then  said 
Daniel  unto  the  king,  0  king,  live  forever .*  My  God 
hath  sent  his  angel,  and  hath  shut  the  lions'  mouths,  that 
tJiey  have  not  hurt  me  /  forasmuch  as  before  him  inno- 
cency  was  found  in  me  /  and  also  before  thee,  0  king, 
have  I  done  no  hurt. 

As  Daniel's  first  words  were  to  the  king,  so  his  second 
utterances  are  for  the  glory  of  his  God.  He  explains  at 
once  the  means  of  his  deliverance. 

I.  The  king's  denomination  of  Daniel  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark. He  does  not  address  him  as  first  of  the  presidents ; 
but  says,  "  0  Daniel,  servant  of  the  living  God"  This 
was  an  honor  above  any  official  station — angels  and 
archangels  can  occupy  no  higher  position.  It  was  better 
for  Daniel  to  have  been  a  servant  of  the  living  God  than 
to  have  been  the  first  president  of  Persia.  His  official 
rank  in  the  empire  could  not  prevent  him  from  being  cast 
among  the  lions ;  but  his  being  the  servant  of  the  living 
God  protected  him  from  their  fury.     His  piety  was  not  a 


*  The  salutation  of  Daniel,  "  0  king,  live  forever !"  does  not  mean  that  he 
wished  him  literally  to  live  forever.  It  was  equivalent  to  the  English  "  God 
save  the  Queen."  It  was  the  common  court  salutation,  and  meant  nothing 
more  than  a  wish  of  long  life  and  prosperity. 


UNIFORMITY  OF  HIS  PIETY.  315 

sickly,  fitful,  feverish,  fashionable  thing ;  his  devotion  was 
deeply  rooted ;  he  served  God  continually,  not  occasion- 
ally ;  his  mind  was  thoroughly  pervaded  and  imbued 
with  sound  religious  sentiments  and  feelings.  The  king 
had  not  failed  to  observe  his  punctuality  in  his  religious 
duties,  the  uniformity,  spirituality,  and  heavenliness  of  hi3 
mind  in  all  his  conduct.  His  religion  was  so  natural  to 
him  that  he  could  not  hide  it ;  every  thing  he  did  proved 
him  to  be  a  man  that  feared  and  loved  God.  O,  what  a 
living  power  there  would  be  in  religion  if  it  were  acted 
out  in  our  social  walks  and  public  conduct,  and  not  shut 
up  to  mould  all  week  within  the  walls  of  our  churches ! 
Why  should  your  labor  and  talents,  influence  and  time,  be 
principally  devoted  to  the  world  which  is  passing  away? 
The  surest  way  to  peace,  and  honor,  and  usefulness,  is  in 
the  service  of  God.  It  is  not  b}r  professing  to  be  religious, 
but  by  consistency  of  conduct,  that  you  will  vindicate  reli- 
gion in  the  eyes  of  worldly  men,  and  lodge  a  testimony  to 
its  reality  in  their  consciences.  And  as  you  would  not  be 
a  partaker  in  other  men's  sins,  so  you  must  be  careful  to 
exert  a  good  influence,  both  by  your  example  and  by  the 
sentiments  you  hold,  upon  all  around  you. 

II.  The  reason  for  God's  interference  in  Daniel's  behalf 
was  not  that  his  conduct  really  merited  such  an  interposi 
tion.  The  meaning  is,  that  God,  being  a  witness  of  his 
innocence,  indicated  it  by  this  interposition.  As  Daniel 
was  not  guilty  of  disobedience  to  his  God,  so  neither  was 
he  guilty  of  any  treasonable  designs.  He  harbored  no 
disloyalty  in  his  bosom.  His  conduct  was  not  the  result 
of  any  pique,  or  from  any  factious  or  discontented  spirit, 
but  purely  from  a  conscientious  regard  to  the  divine  au 


316  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

thoritj  and  glory ;  and  God,  by  this  interference,  showed 
that  He  had  taken  notice  of  Daniel's  conduct  and  was 
pleased  with  it,  and  thus  declared  that  it  was  worthy  of 
imitation  in  all  similar  cases. 

You  may  learn,  therefore,  from  this  case,  that  God  is 
the  vindicator  of  his  people.  This  truth  is  strikingly 
exemplified  in  the  history  of  the  pious  who  in  past  ages 
have  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  Redeemer's  host.  He 
has  never  forsaken  his  people.  "  Trust  in  the  Lord,  and 
do  good,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed.  Commit  thy  way 
unto  the  Lord  ;  trust  also  in  him,  and  he  shall  bring  forth 
the  righteousness  as  thy  light,  and  thy  judgment  as  the 
noonday." 

III.  The  personal  property  in  God,  referred  to  both  in 
the  king's  words  and  in  Daniel's  reply,  is  remarkable. 
The  king  said  to  Daniel,  "  Is  thy  God,  whom  thou  servest 
continually,  able  to  deliver  thee  from  the  lions?"  And 
Daniel  replies,  "  My  God  hath  sent  his  angel  and  shut 
the  lion's  mouths,  that  they  have  not  hurt  me."  Mark 
the  difference.  Darius  had  heard  of  God  by  the  hearing 
of  the  ear,  Daniel  was  acquainted  with  him  as  a  friend 
and  a  father.  Daniel  had  chosen  him  as  his  portion,  and 
devoted  himself  to  his  service.  To  believe  there  is  a 
God  is  cheering  compared  with  blank,  heartless  atheism. 
Surely  it  is  good  news  that  the  universe  is  not  an  orphan. 
Surely  all  well-disposed  minds  will  rejoice  in  the  tidings 
that  the  world  is  governed  by  its  Creator.  How  much 
more  comfortable  to  be  able  to  feel  that  He  who  is  the 
ineffable  Creator  is  our  Father  ! 

IV.  Eead  here  verses  23,  24. 

I  have  already,  in  the  preceding  Lecture,  shown,  1st. 


CRUELTIES.— MAMELUKES.  317 

That  such  a  rash  and  passionate,  sinful,  improper,  and  un- 
worthy act  as  this,  was  not  so  improbable  a  thing  in  the 
life  of  an  Eastern  monarch,  or  even  of  a  Western  tyrant, 
as  to  render  the  history  of  it  incredible.  He  who  could 
order  the  Saint  Bartholomew  Massacre,  or  the  murder  of 
the  Mamelukes  in  Cairo,  or  murder  the  children  of  Beth- 
lehem, or  set  Rome  on  fire  for  mere  pastime,  and  then  put 
Christians  to  death  on  the  pretense  that  they  had  done 
what  he  knew  he  had  himself  done,  would  have  been 
capable  of  doing  all,  and  even  more  than  it  ascribed  to 
Darius.  It  has  been  shown  that  it  was  a  Persian  custom 
to  execute  convicts  by  casting  them  into  a  den  of  lions, 
and  it  has  valso  been  shown  that  the  families  of  those  who 
fell  under  royal  displeasure,  were  often  destroyed  with 
them.  Such  a  custom  is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as  well  as 
in  profane  history.  The  narrative,  then,  that  mentions 
such  things  is  not  on  that  account  to  be  thrown,  at  the 
mere  caprice  of  a  cloudy-headed  critic,  into  fable-land. 
But,  2dly.  The  Bible  does  not  say  that  the  decree  of 
Darius  against  prayer  was  right ;  nor  does  the  Bible  justify 
the  cruelty  of  the  king  against  Daniel's  persecutors.  Our 
history  simply  states  the  facts.  These  men  were  guilty 
of  many  crimes.  Whether  their  punishment  exceeded 
their  guilt  is  not  decided  by  the  text.  The  Bible  is  res- 
ponsible only  for  the  record  of  the  facts. 

The  great  Jewish  historian,  in  recording  this  fact,  says, 
that  when  Daniel  was  delivered,  the  princes  said  it  was 
because  the  lions  had  been  previously  surfeited  with  food, 
and  on  that  account  it  was  that  they  refused  to  touch 
Daniel.  This  so  enraged  the  king  that  he  ordered  a  great 
quantity  of  flesh  to  be  given  to  the  lions,  and  then  com 


318  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

manded  that  these  princes,  Daniel's  enemies,  should  be 
cast  into  the  den,  and  they  were  all  destroyed.  Whether 
this  account  of  Josephus  be  true  in  all  its  details  or  not,  I 
am  not  able  to  say.  The  main  points  are  true.  And  the 
history  of  Daniel's  deliverance  illustrates  God's  power  over 
the  leasts  of  the  field.  ]STo  doubt  these  Persian  princes 
were  anxious  to  explain  away  the  miraculous  interposition 
of  Daniel's  God.  Like  many  pretended  friends  of  the 
Bible  in  our  day,  they  were  so  careful  of  the  divine  power, 
that  they  could  not  think  of  any  useless  expenditure  of 
Omnipotence.  There  are  those  that  talk  of  laws  and  na- 
ture, and  yet  find  God  nowhere.  If  a  pestilence  comes,  it 
is  not  the  hand  of  God  that  sent  it,  but  the  want  of  ozone, 
or  it  is  some  volcanic  action  that  occasioned  it.  If  the 
epidemic  is  removed,  it  was  a  change  of  the  atmosphere, 
or  of  the  wTind,  that  removed  it.  If  the  soil  yields  bene- 
ficently, and  rewards  the  toil  of  the  husbandman,  it  is  not 
the  Creator,  but  the  frosts  and  snows  of  last  winter,  that 
have  occasioned  the  fruitfulness  of  the  earth.  If  our 
astronomer,  in  his  studio  at  Washington,  predicts,  from 
the  observance  of  certain  sailing  directions,  which  he  him- 
self lays  down,  and  gives  to  the  captain  of  one  of  our 
vessels,  the  passage  of  that  vessel  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco,  a  voyage  of  more  than  seventeen  thousand 
miles,  it  is  nothing  but  science  and  natural  causes.  God, 
whose  works  and  laws  are  the  substance  of  all  science,  is 
forgotten.  This  last  illustration  is  a  fact,  and  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  instances  of  the  triumphs  of  science 
that  has  ever  been  recorded.  Lieutenant  Maury,  in  his 
instructions  and  predictions  of  the  voyage  of  the  vessel 
"  The  Sovereign  of  the  Seas,"  occupying  one  hundred  and 


LIEUT.  MAURY.— KEPLER  AND  LAPLACE.  319 

three  days  froni  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  it  is  said, 
did  not  err  two  hours  in  his  calculation  of  the  time  the 
voyage  would  take.  And  yet,  strange  as  it  is,  many, 
practically  if  not  professedly,  make  the  thermometer,  the 
state  of  the  weather,  the  quadrant,  the  compass,  the  laws 
of  vegetation,  their  god.  But  what  are  the  laws  of  na- 
ture but  the  will  of  the  Creator  impressed  upon  nature  ? 
Whence  these  laws  ?  "What  is  the  thermometer,  the  com- 
pass, the  telescope,  or  the  sprouting  of  seed,  without  the 
upholding  power  of  the  Creator  ?  Nature  is  nothing  with- 
out the  active  presence  of  her  Maker ;  the  laws  of  matter 
are  nothing  but  expressions  of  the  will  of  the  Creator. 
Cuvier  did  not  originate  the  four  great  plans  on  which 
the  animal  kingdom  is  constructed ;  he  only  discovered 
what  the  Creator  had  done.  Kepler  and  Laplace  have 
not  made  any  of  the  laws  of  the  universe ;  they  have  only 
discovered  them.  Of  the  miracle,  then,  before  us,  what 
think  you  ?  Was  not  the  flesh  of  Daniel  as  sweet  to  the 
taste  of  the  lions  as  the  flesh  of  his  enemies  ?  Why  did 
the  lions  leave  Daniel  untouched,  and  yet  devour  his  per- 
secutors as  soon  as  they  were  cast  into  their  den  ?  The 
Bible  answers  this  question.  Daniel  was  not  hurt  by  the 
lions,  because  he  believed  in  his  God.  Daniel  gives  him- 
self the  true  explanation.  "  My  God  hath  sent  his  angel, 
and  hath  shut  the  lions'  mouths  that  they  have  not  hurt 
me."  It  was  faith,  as  the  Apostle  Paul  tells  us,  that 
stopped  the  lions'  mouths.  It  was  in  consequence  of  Dan- 
iel's faith  in  God  that  the  angel  quelled  the  fury  of  the 
hungry  lions.  Their  ferocious  disposition  is  proverbial ; 
but  they  surround  Daniel  gently  as  lambs.  We  are  not 
told  how  the  angel  shut  their  mouths ;  whether  they  were 


320  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

awed  by  the  majesty  and  brightness  of  the  angelic  nature, 
or  whether  their  physical  powers  were  for  the  time  par- 
alyzed, or  whether  some  powerful  influence  operated  on 
their  nature,  we  cannot  determine.  The  result  we  know, 
but  not  the  mode  of  producing  it.  The  agent  of  Daniel's 
protection  was  an  angel — -probably  the  angel  of  Jehovah's 
presence,  who  appeared  to  Abraham  and  to  the  three  He- 
brews in  the  fiery  furnace. 

The  Scriptures  give  us  many  examples  of  the  agency 
of  angels  in  ministering  to  God's  people.  "We  may  not 
comprehend  how  or  in  what  way  God  exerts  his  power 
over  the  instincts  and  fierce  propensities  of  the  beasts  of 
the  earth,  and  yet  the  fact  is  beyond  doubt.  The  Creator 
gave  man  dominion  over  the  earth  and  its  animals,  and 
placed  his  fear  upon  the  beasts  of  the  field.  The  fire  of 
the  human  eye  proclaims  man's  supremacy  over  the  fierce 
monsters  of  the  forest.  Man's  ingenuity  in  making  in- 
struments of  defense  is  more  than  a  counterbalance  to 
brute  agility  and  strength.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that 
the  fierce  passions  of  animals  are  consequences'of  Adam's 
fall,  and  that  the  Millennium,  or  the  triumph  of  the 
Gospel,  will  restore  the  animals  to  their  primeval  state ; 
that  then  the  lion  and  tiger,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea  and 
birds  of  the  air,  will  recognize  man  as  their  lord,  and  do 
him  homage  as  God's  vicar  on  earth.  This  theory  I  re- 
gard more  in  the  light  of  poetry  than  of  sober  truth — as 
more  beautiful  in  theory  than  probable  in  reality.  Still, 
it  is  true  that  God  has  power  over  the  destructive  pro- 
pensities of  animals.  If  man  has  lost  the  reins  of  abso- 
lute dominion  over  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  birds  of  the 
air,  God  has  not ;  He  still  holds  them.     There  are  numer* 


GOD'S  DOMINION  OVER  ANIMALS.  321 

ous  instances  scattered  throughout  the  Bible.  The  ravens 
bring  food  to  the  prophet ;  the  dumb  ass,  at  God's  bidding, 
preaches  a  most  effective  and  direct  sermon  to  the  dis- 
obedient and  self-willed  prophet.  A  fish  of  the  sea 
swallows  Jonah,  and  another  brings  tribute-money  to  our 
Lord.  And  in  the  example  before  us,  the  fiercest  of  all 
the  animal  kingdom  sit  or  stand,  and  crouch  around  the 
man  of  God,  and  dare  not  touch  him ;  the  hand  of  God 
was  upon  them.  The  power  of  God  over  the  fury  of  the 
lions  is  seen  not  only  in  shutting  their  mouths,  but  also 
in  opening  them — in  shutting  them  against  Daniel,  but  in 
opening  them  upon  the  princes ;  they  cannot  hurt  Daniel, 
but  devour  his  persecutors. 

God  had  wrought  many  "signs  and  wonders"  before 
Pharoah,  when  his  court  was  the  dominant  power  in  the 
world.  He  had  given  miraculous  proofs  of  his  supreme 
Divinity  before  the  Chaldean  court,  when  it  was  at  the 
zenith  of  its  power  and  glory.  The  deliverance  of  Daniel 
and  the  destruction  of  his  enemies  was  a  demonstration 
of  the  same  to  the  court  of  Persia.  The  miracles  wrought 
before  Pharoah  and  Nebuchadnezzar  were  intended  to 
call  the  attention  of  these  monarchs  toward  the  Jewish 
religion,  and  secure  favor  for  the  Jewish  captives.  The 
same  thing  was  designed  and  secured  by  the  deliverance 
of  Daniel.     See  verses  25-27. 

Y.  The  history  in  hand  teaches  us,  again,  that  the  power 
of  God  is  not  only  over  all  the  leasts  of  the  field,  and  all 
the  elements  of  nature,  but  that  He  is  every  where,  to 

PROTECT  AND  BLESS  ALL  THOSE  THAT  TRUST  EST  HlM.       Daniel 

was  not  hurt  by  the  lions,  "  because  he  believed  in  his 

God."    His  God  sent  his  angel  to  shut  the  lions'  mouths- 

21 


322  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

because  before  him  Daniel  was  found  innocent  of  any 
fault  either  toward  him  or  toward  the  king.  A  believer 
cannot  be  shut  out  from  the  presence  of  his  God.  He  may 
be  banished  from  his  country  and  his  home ;  he  may  be 
cast  into  the  depths  of  the  angry  sea ;  he  may  be  thrown 
into  caves  of  the  earth — sealed  up  in  the  lions'  den;  but 
he  cannot  be  banished  from  his  God.  On  the  top  of 
Ararat  and  of  Mount  Sinai — in  the  silent  catacombs  of 
Rome — amid  the  parching  sands  of  the  desert — on  the 
great  waves  of  the  sea — wherever  there  is  a  Christian 
heart,  there  is  the  Christian's  God,  to  bless  and  deliver 
him.  How  blessed  is  the  thought  that  God  is  not  con- 
fined to  temples  made  with  hands.  What  a  blessed  pri- 
vilege that  we  are  not  obliged  to  have  a  consecrated 
altar,  a  priest,  a  wafer,  holy  water,  and  the  oil  of  extreme 
unction  before  we  can  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins. 
The  Christian,  whether  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  or  in 
the  mines  of  California,  or  toiling  as  a  slave  under  the 
burning  sun  of  Louisiana,  or  on  the  loftiest  pinnacle  of 
the  Andes,  every  where  finds  a  temple,  a  sacrifice,  and 
an  altar,  even  Jesus.  "  If  he  ascend  into  heaven,  He  is 
there ;  if  he  descend  into  the  grave,  He  is  there ;  if  he 
take  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  go  down  into  the  depths 
of  the  sea,  even  there  is  his  Lord  and  Saviour  too.  God's 
eye  can  pierce  all  darkness ;  God's  heart  can  pity  his 
captive  any  where ;  and  God's  hand  can  help  him  in  spite 
of  all  obstacles.  So  Daniel  felt,  and  so  thousands  of  God's 
saints  have  felt  it  too." — Cumming. 

VI.  In  view,  then,  of  Daniel's  deliverance,  learn,  al- 
ways   AND    EVERY    WHERE,   TO    PUT    YOUR    TRUST   IN   GoD 

Under  all  circumstances,  at  home  or  abroad,  in  health  or 


0 
PUT  YOUR  CONFIDENCE  IN  GOD.  323 

in  sickness,  with  friends  ,or  under  the  stern  gaze  of  in- 
quiring strangers,  never  cease  to  put  your  confidence  in 
God.  Do  not  look  at  things,  but  look  at  the  Creator  and 
Governor  of  all  things.  If  you  are  an  enemy  to  God,  then 
all  the  universe  is  arrayed  against  you ;  but  if  you  are 
reconciled  to  God — if  you  are  once  more  at  peace  with 
him — then  you  are  in  harmony  with  yourself,  in  harmony 
with  his  laws,  and  consequently  happy  with  all  things. 
He  commands  the  elements  to  do  you  good.  For  you  the 
winds  are  to  make  music,  and  the  waves  are  to  bring  you 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  all  things  shall  work  together 
for  your  good. 

It  is  true,  as  the  Persian  monarch  says  in  his  decree, 
"  God  maketh  signs  and  wonders."  It  is  his  voice  that 
has  called  forth  the  beauteous  spring.  The  flower  that 
germinates — the  bud  that  bursts  from  the  stem — the  frag- 
rance that  floats  in  the  air — the  sweet  warblings  from 
gardens  and  forests  that  charm  you,  and  the  glorious 
heavens  above  you,  are  all  evidences  of  his  presence,  and 
power,  and  goodness.  There  is  just  as  much  of  God's 
mighty  power  present  in  making  your  living  heart  con- 
tinue to  beat  this  moment,  as  there  was  in  making  Laza- 
rus' dead  heart  begin  to  beat  again.  God's  signs  and 
wonders  are  all  around  us.  We  are  ourselves  a  part  of 
them.  Our  history  is  full  of  miracles  of  mercy.  Philo- 
sophers, in  their  pride,  and  to  hide  their  own  ignorance, 
call  the  tokens  of  the  living  God,  phenomena.  The  Bible 
calls  them  his  signs  and  wonders.  Newton  discovered 
orbs,  and  laid  the  line  and  the  plummet  on  the  very  out 
skirts  of  creation  ;  but  this  he  could  never  have  done  had 
not  the  Creator's  hand  been  there  before  him,  and  laid 


324  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

His  laws  upon  them,  by  which  He  guides  them  still.  It 
was  the  hand  of  Daniel's  God  that  mingled  those  beau- 
teous colors  which  the  same  Newton  was  the  first  to 
analyze,  and  have  since  been  made  to  paint  the  unerring 
portrait.  God  launched  into  being  the  suns  and  systems 
whose  vast  revolutions  the  astronomer  now  calculates 
with  so  much  accuracy.  God  buried  the  vast  Saurian 
tribes  before  man  was  created.  He  knows  all  the  dis- 
coveries that  science  will  make.  He  understands  all  the 
creeds  that  men  will  ever  propound.  He  sees  through 
all  the  cabinet  councils  that  will  ever  sit  in  Parliament, 
in  Divan,  or  Congress ;  and  He  has  determined  that  the 
wrath  of  man  shall  praise  Him,  that  the  Gospel  shall  pre- 
vail, and  His  glory  fill  the  earth. 

Finally.  In  Daniel's  fidelity  to  his  conscience  and  his 
God,  we  have  an  instance  of  the  sublimest  moral  heroism. 
It  was  not  that  Daniel  was  insensible  to  the  favor  of  the 
king;  it  was  not  that  he  did  not  love  life,  or  that  he  cared 
nothing  for  the  privileges  of  his  position  as  first  of  the 
presidents.  •  The  penalty  threatened  was  death,  and  death 
in  an  aggravated  form.  Death  is  a  terrible  penalty. 
Death  is  the  most  unnatural  of  all  things.  It  is  something 
abhorrent  to  all  living  creatures.  Man  was  not  made  to 
die ;  his  very  nature  shrinks  from  death.  Death,  in  itself, 
was  not  desirable  even  to  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  did  not 
desire  to  "be  unclothed,"  but  he  desired  "to  be  with 
Christ."  He  was  willing  to  meet  the  foe,  for  the  sake  of 
the  victory ;  he  was  willing  to  pass  through  the  dark  and 
stormy  sea,  that  he  might  gain  the  shore  of  beauty  and 
blessedness  that  stretched  beyond  it.  Nature  shrinks 
from  death,' but  faith  teaches  the  true  Christian  to  say, 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  HAPPY  DEATH  325 

"O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  ?  Thanks  be  nnto  God  that  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  Jesus  Christ."  It  was  a  true  and  living  faith, 
then,  that  enabled  Daniel  to  triumph  over  the  fear  of 
death.  His  faith  taught  him  that  his  God  was  able  to 
deliver  him,  or  to  make  his  death,  amid  the  ravenous 
wild  beasts,  the  forerunner  of  endless  life.  Faith  whis- 
pered to  him,  as  he  was  led  along  and  cast  into  the  lions' 
den,  If  this  is  to  be  the  manner  of  my  death,  then  this  den 
will  be  the  vestibule  of  glory.  His  faith  told  him  that 
death  was  not  a  sinking  into  nonentity — that  it  was  not 
even  a  momentary  suspension  of  the  continuity  of  life.  It 
is  only  a  transition.  When  the  Christian  dies,  he  does 
not  cease  to  be.  When  the  eye  that  looks  upon  us  with 
so  much  affection,  and  the  lips  that  breathe  our  name  are 
closed,  our  father  or  child  has  not  ceased  to  be.  Their 
eyes  are  open  upon  another  and  a  brighter  world.  They 
have  only  begun  to  live.  The  evening  twilight  of  this 
world  closes  only  upon  the  eye  of  a  believer  as  the  morn- 
ing twilight  of  glory  bursts  upon  him,  and  begins  to  open 
into  the  brightness  of  eternal  day.  The  flame  that  con- 
sumes the  martyr's  body  is  the  chariot  that  wafts  his  soul 
to  immortality. 

The  sublime  moral  heroism  of  Daniel  was  the  result  of 
his  faith  in  God,  and  his  faith  in  God  was  the  result  of 
his  early  religious  education.  The  Christian  principles 
in  which  he  was  educated  sustained  him  through  his 
eventful  life. 

May  your  lives  be  full  of  honor  and  happiness,  and 
your  deaths  be  for  the  glory  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
to  whom  be  praise  forever.     Amen. 


326  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL 


LECTUEE  XVI. 

DANIEL   A    STUDY    AND   MODEL   FOR    YOUNG   MEN    AWAY 
FROM    HOME. 

On  Dan.,  vi.,  28. 

"  So  this  Daniel  prospered  in  the  reign  of  Darius,  and  in  the  reign  of 
Cyrus  the  Persian." 

Young  Men  in  Cities. — Advantages  and  Dangers. — Evils  of  Clubs  and  College 
Commons. — Perils  of  Young  professional  Men  and  of  Clerks. —  Crisis  in  a 
young  Man's  Life. — New  Orleans  not  the  worst  City  above  Ground. —  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association. — Daniel1  s  Diligence. — A  Model  Statesman. — 
His  Promptitude,  Punctuality,  Integrity,  Temperance,  Benevolence. — High 
Character  of  New  Orleans  Business  Men. — Aim  High. — "  Tracts  for  the 
Times." — Our  Savans  not  yet  manufactured  a  Spider. — Every  Age  has  its 
Peculiarities. —  Young  Men  must  be  armed  for  the  Battle  of  the  Age. —  Gross 
Materialism  of  our  Times. — Namby-pambyism  of  our  popular  Press. — Bible. 
—  Young  Men  are  the  only  Men  for  the  Times. — Air-gun  Attacks. — Don't 
wear  out  your  Certificates. — Not  Churchmen  nor  Sectarians,  but  pious. — Not 
Crab-apple  Christians,  but  active  mes. — Importance  of  early  religious  Cul- 
ture.— MOTHERS  wanted. — Trust  in  Providence. — No  Fanaticism  in  per- 
sonal Religion. —  God  the  young  Man's  best  Patron. —  Your  Privileges  supe- 
rior to  those  of  Daniel. —  You  must  have  a  personal  Acquaintance  with  Re- 
ligion.— Farewell  of  the  Series. 

With  this  sixth  chapter  the  historical  part  of  the  book 
of  Daniel  ends.  "We  find  no  further  use  of  the  Chaldee 
language  after  this  chapter.  The  subsequent  part  of  the 
book  being  occupied  with  an  account  of  Daniel's  own 
visions,  and  not  containing  edicts  of  Chaldean  or  Persian 
kings,  is  written,  as  we  should  expect  it  to  be,  in  Daniel's 
own  language,  and  in  just  such  Hebrew  as  we  should  ex- 
pect such  a  man  as  Daniel,  a  well-educated  Hebrew,  liv- 


YOUNG  MEN  AWAY  FROM  HOME.  327 

ing  in  the  courts  of  Babylon  and  Persia  in  the  time  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  Cyrus,  would  use.  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  the  object  of  the  writer  of  this  book  has  not  been  to 
give  a  regular  and  complete  history,  either  of  the  Baby- 
lonish kings,  of  their  successors,  or  of  Daniel  himself. 
Those,  and  only  those,  events  are  noticed  which  tend  to 
exhibit  Jehovah  as  working  miracles,  in  order  to  preserve 
and,  in  due  season,  deliver  his  ancient  covenant  people 
out  of  their  captivity.  That  there  is  an  ethical  and  re- 
ligious design  in  the  narratives  is  most  palpable ;  but  we 
have  shown  that  this  is  no  reason  for  believing  the  whole 
history  a  mere  fable.  It  is  clear  that  the  writer  designed 
to  commend  a  steadfast  adherence  to  the  principles  and 
practice  of  piety  and  virtue,  amid  the  trials  and  tempta- 
tions to  which  the  Hebrews  were  exposed  in  their  captiv- 
ity in  Babylon.  And  in  Daniel  we  have  a  most  felicitous 
grouping  of  virtues,  personal,  private,  and  public,  for  the 
study  and  imitation  of  young  men  who  are,  as  he  was, 
away  from  home,  and  obliged  to  live  in  great  cities.  If 
extremes  do  not  meet  in  our  large  towns  and  cities,  they 
are  certainly  near  neighbors.  In  such  a  city  as  London, 
Vienna,  Paris,  New  York,  or  New  Orleans,  there  is  to 
be  found  something  of  every  thing,  and  something  of 
every  thing  of  the  best,  and  something  of  every  thing  of 
the  worst.  It  is  this  fact  that  gives  such  importance  to 
the  entrance  of  young  men  into  large  cities,  or  to  their 
assuming  independent  positions  in  them,  even  after  they 
have  been  brought  up  there.  For  example,  as  to  amuse- 
ments, whether  for  the  health  of  the  body  or  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  mind,  a  young  man  may  find  the  worst  or  the 
best  in  a  great  city.     The  intellect  may  be  enlarged,  the 


328  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

perceptive  powers  quickened,  habits  of  promptness  and 
decision  formed,  and  the  mind  be  stored,  by  attendance 
on  Lectures  by  men  of  the  highest  science  and  of  ap- 
proved moral  characters  and  sentiments,  and  by  inter- 
course with  intelligent,  high-minded,  active  business  men. 
The  very  atmosphere  of  a  busy  community  is  inspiring, 
and  should  be  elevating.  This  is  one  view  of  the  mat- 
ter. There  is  another,  and  a  different  one  also.  Young 
men  in  cities  may  quicken  their  talents  at  the  expense  of 
their  virtue  and  reputation,  by  the  coarser  wit  of  clubs 
and  societies  where  religion  furnishes  the  best  joke,  and 
sobriety  and  chastity  the  loudest  laugh.  It  may  be  put 
down  as  a  safe,  as  a  very  important  rule,  that  no  youth 
at  school  or  college,  or  away  from  home,  should  be  al- 
lowed to  lodge  or  board  in  commons ;  but  always  to  take 
meals  where  a  lady  presides  at  the  head  of  the.  table.  I 
had  rather  a  son  of  mine  should  grow  up  ignorant  of  the 
curriculum  of  university  studies,  than  for  him  to  live 
without  the  society  of  intelligent  and  pious  females  for 
three  or  four  years.  But  let  us  take  another  illustration 
of  the  point  in  hand.  A  young  man,  away  from  home, 
and  beginning  life  in  a  great  city,  desires  to  enter  the 
learned  professions.  As  such,  he  may  be  associated  with 
the  most  high-minded,  religious,  straightforward  lawyer 
or  physician,  or  he  may  be  placed  with  the  very  reverse ; 
and  instead  of  learning  from  his  associates  an  honorable 
way  to  renown  and  fortune,  he  may  be  taught,  by  their 
example,  and  by  a  gradual  training  under  the  older  mem- 
bers of  the  profession,  to  regard  as  the  one  object  of  his 
life  and  business,  to  draw  the  life-blood  to  the  last  drop 
from  every  unfortunate  client  or  patient.     Or  if  the  young 


ENTRANCE  UPON  CITY  LIFE.  329 

man  enters  a  house  of  business,  he  may  find  himself 
with  a  firm  who,  both  by  theory  and  practice,  inculcate 
every  thing  that  is  honest,  noble,  and  of  good  report ;  or 
he  may  find  his  lot  among  those  with  whom  profession  is 
not  principie^whose  lengths,  measures,  and  descriptions 
of  merchandise  are  varied  to  suit  customers — where 
Mammon  is  the  only  god  served,  and  where  clerks  are 
complimented  on  the  principle  that  gain  is  godliness — 
where  honesty  to  the  buyer  is  counted  dishonesty  to  the 
seller — where  the  net  profits  shown  by  the  ledger  are 
counted  of  more  consequence  than  the  certain  losses  re- 
corded in  the  Book  of  God.  The  dangers  to  which  youths 
are  exposed  in  large  cities  have  often  been  pointed  out, 
and  in  the  most  earnest  and  affectionate  manner,  from 
this  pulpit.  It  does  not  come  within  my  present  scope 
to  dwell  upon  them.  This  much,  however,  must  now  be 
said,  that  the  entrance  of  a  young  man  upon  his  life  in  a 
large  city  is  a  great  crisis  in  his  existence.  It  is  then,  if 
not  before,  that  the  trial  comes  that  will  show  what  stuff 
he  is  made  of.  It  is  then  the  question,  to  be  or  not  to  be, 
is  pressed  with  an  emphasis  totally  unknown  before ;  to  be 
or  not  to  be,  a  virtuous  man ;  to  be  or  not  to  be,  an  hon- 
orable man ;  to  be  or  not  to  be,  a  religious  man — a  man 
of  God,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work ;  to 
be  or  not  to  be,  mindful  of  the  principles  of  their  pa- 
rent ;  to  serve  or  not  to  serve  the  God  of  their  fathers : 
these  are  the  questions  which,  of  all  others,  he  must  de- 
cide on  his  entrance  upon  life  in  a  city.  Here  are  temp- 
tations to  vice,  facilities  for  gratifying  a  depraved  taste, 
opportunities  for  profound  secrecy,  and  refinement  in  the 
forms  of  sensuality ;  and  here  the  gradations  of  the  down- 


330  LECTUKE3  ON  DANIEL. 

ward  course  of  iniquity  are  so  imperceptible,  and  yet 
their  tendency  so  certainly  fatal,  both  to  body  and  soul, 
to  happiness  here  and  hereafter,  that  it  is  not  without 
some  appropriateness  that  our  city  is  called  "  the  modern 
Babylon."  I  do  not  admit  that  our  city  is  as  bad  as  its 
reputation  abroad  makes  it.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  any 
worse,  not  quite  as  bad  as  other  cities  in  our  own  country, 
and  certainly  not  equal  in  vice  to  the  large  cities  of  the 
Old  World ;  still,  a  young  man's  life  in  New  Orleans  is 
full  of  perils.  It  is  proper  that  the  arrival  of  a  youth 
from  the  country,  or  from  a  smaller  town,  or  the  starting 
out  in  life  of  one  brought  up  among  us,  should  be  an  oc- 
casion of  deep  anxiety.  To  one  from  the  country  every 
thing  is  new — the  modes  of  doing  business  are  new — the 
subjects  of  conversation  are  new.  His  associates  and 
channels  of  news  are  different  from  those  with  which  he 
has  been  accustomed.  The  churches,  and  modes  of  wor- 
ship, and  ministers,  are  all  new.  He  is  not  acquainted 
with  the  pious  people  of  the  city.  No  wonder,  then,  that 
we  have  thought  it  important  to  have  a  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  formed  in  this  city,  that  may  sym- 
pathize with  the  young  man  from  home,  and  throw 
around  him  a  shield  of  protection  and  encouragement. 
The  young  man  that  now  knows  the  heart  of  a  stranger 
need  be  friendless  no  more.  He  is  no  longer  left  to  the 
mercy  of  the  vicious  and  ungodly.  But  so  precious  are 
his  interests,  and  so  perilous  still  is  his  condition,  that  it 
is  no  wonder  his  family  at  home  follow  him  with  deep  so- 
licitude.  No  wonder  that  his  mother  and  sisters  laid  a 
Bible  and  some  earnest  religious  books  with  his  apparel, 
and  that  they  follow  him  with  letters,  and  look  anxiously 


YOUR  RESEMBLANCE  TO  DANIEL.  331 

for  his,  and  if  his  letters  arrive  irregularly,  that  they  are 
troubled.  Now,  while  the  dangers  of  city  life  are  immi- 
nent,' they  are  not  inevitable.  A  youth  may  be  brought 
up  in,  or  come  to  and  reside  in,  our  modern  Babylon  un- 
harmed amid  all  its  temptations,  just  as  Joseph  did  in 
Egypt,  and  as  Daniel  remained  in  Babylon  and  Susa,  amid 
all  the  temptations  of  the  luxurious  heathen  courts  of  the 
Babylonish  and  Persian  empires.  Daniel  so  acted  as  to 
escape  the  corruptions  that  surrounded  him,  and  to  the 
end  of  a  long  life  feared  God  and  obtained  his  blessing. 
His  conduct  in  the  chief  cities  of  the  old  Oriental  empires 
supplies  a  moral  for  young  men  in  our  cities  of  the  West- 
ern World.  His  character  is  now  presented  for  your  imi- 
tation ;  the  points  of  resemblance  are  not  without  their 
force.  The  disparities  are  in  your  favor.  He  was  carried 
to  Babylon,  a  heathen  city,  as  a  captive.  You  come  as  a 
freeman  to  a  city  of  Gospel  privileges,  a  city  where  there 
are  thousands  that  do  not  bow  the  knee  to  Baal.  If,  in- 
deed, there  be  not  a  Lot  and  an  Abraham  here  to  inter- 
cede for  the  city,  there  are  hundreds  of  pious  Christian 
men  and  women  in  this  city,  whose  example  and  prayers 
are  worth  more  than  the  gold  of  Babylon.  Daniel  and 
his  three  friends  were  of  the  first  families  of  Jerusalem. 
They  were  carried  to  Babylon  when  about  seventeen  or 
twenty  years  of  age.  Their  age  and  temperaments,  hopes 
and  fears,  trials  and  temptations,  were,  therefore,  similar 
to  your  own.  It  will  not  be  proper  for  me  to  repeat  what 
has  been  already  said  in  this  series  of  Lectures.  I  can 
now  do  but  little  more  than  seize  on  a  few  of  the  more 
important  points  of  his  character.     And, 

I.  Daniel  is  a  model  man  for  all  young  men  on  ao 


332  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

count  of  his  diligence  in  business.  You  remember  how 
he  declined  the  royal  table,  and  yet  became  more  comely 
than  the  other  captives,  and  how  he  was  promoted  to 
great;  honors.  He  served  at  least  £.yq  royal  masters: 
Nebuchadnezzar,  Evil-Merodach,  Belshazzar,  £>arius,  and 
Cyrus,  yet  his  unscrupulous  persecutors  could  "find 
neither  error  nor  fault  in  him  " — no  partiality,  no  selfish 
ness,  no  remissness,  no  harshness,  no  mismanagement  of 
the  public  funds,  nor  of  the  public  business  in  any  way 
What  a  model  for  business  young  men,  clerks,  agents  of 
commercial  houses,  and  politicians.  His  success  was 
doubtless  owing,  in  part,  to  his  diligence  in  acquiring 
knowledge.  As  a  statesman  under  so  many  different 
monarchs  and  dynasties,  it  required  effort  to  make  him- 
self acquainted  with  the  diversified  duties  of  his  official 
station.  He  was  the  first  president  of  the  rulers  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  provinces,  and  Bab  Mag,  or  chief 
of  the  college  of  learned  men ;  consequently,  he  had  to 
make  himself  familiar  with  the  scientific  and  political 
knowledge  of  his  times.  He  had  no  time  to  read  novels 
and  superficial  .Reviews,  had  there  been  such  trash  then 
in  the  metropolis.  His  intellect  was  expended  in  re- 
searches for  knowledge  as  for  hid  treasures.  Few  states- 
men have  served  so  many  masters  without  flattering  any, 
or  been  so  successful  in  the  management  of  public  affairs, 
or  been  so  useful  to  the  states  over  which  they  have  pre- 
sided. Samuel,  Joseph,  and  Daniel  are  the  best  speci- 
mens of  prime  ministers  that  have  ever  appeared  on 
earth. 

In  the  administration  of  the  royal  laws,  Daniel  was  dili- 
gent and  prompt.     At  the  appointed  hour  he  was  at  his 


PERFECTION  OE  HIS  CHARACTER.  333 

place  in  the  Icing's  gate.  No  one  could  accuse  him  of  a 
want  of  punctuality — no  one  could  charge  him  with  im- 
patience in  hearing  causes,  nor  of  the  want  of  delib- 
eration in  his  decisions,  nor  of  weakness  in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  judgments  decreed ;  nor  was  there  any 
deficiency  in  the  revenue  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
provinces.  As  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  Secretary 
of  State,  his  enemies  themselves  being  judges,  there  was 
nothing  to  be  found  against  him.  Uncertain  markets, 
distracting  competitions,  a  voluminous  correspondence, 
the  incessant  cares  and  excitements  of  office — how  must 
all  these  things  have  pressed  upon  him !  yet  his  strong, 
well-balanced,  prayer- sustained  mind,  took  such  a  clear, 
comprehensive,  wide-reaching  control  of  the  vast  affairs 
of  the  dominant  empire  of  the  globe,  that  he  was  without 
fault.  He  so  counseled  his  royal  masters,  as  to  preserve 
their  dominions  tranquil,  loyal,  and  secure.  As  a  student, 
as  a  subject,  as  a  statesman,  from  early  youth  to  old  age, 
Daniel  was  remarkable  for  his  habits  of  sobriety,  indus- 
try, and  piety ;  he  was  both  diligent  in  business  and  fer- 
vent in  -spirit,  serving  the  Lord.  He  was  no  idler,  no 
loiterer,  no  lackadaisical  youth ;  his  industry  was  not  to 
feed  and  pamper  himself.  Never  did  man  spend  less  for 
his  personal  gratification  who  had  so  much  at  command. 
He  never  pandered  to  any  guilty  passions,  nor  luxuriated 
in  the  debaucheries  of  vice ;  he  made  no  provisions  for 
the  flesh  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof.  Had  he  been  guilty 
of  such  things,  his  enemies  would  not  have  failed  to  ex- 
pose his  guilt  with  malignant  joy.  He  was  not  a  world- 
ly-minded .man.  The  love  of  money  was  not  found  in 
him.     His  toil  was  not  to  indulge  himself  in  low  gratifi- 


334:  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

cations,  nor  to  aggrandize  himself  or  his  relations.  He 
was  thoroughly  a  man  of  business,  and  he  was  quite  as 
thoroughly  a  man  of  God. 

Young  men,  it  is  your  duty  to  be  men  of  business,  of 
high  business  talents  and  character.  You  know  better 
than  I  can  tell  you,  that  loiterers,  procrastinators,  and 
tattlers,  and  busy  bodies  in  other  men's  business,  cannot 
succeed  in  this  community.  You  already  know  that  la- 
ziness is  disreputable,  that  dilatoriness  is  disgraceful,  that 
procrastination  is  a  reproach.  There  is  not  a  more  in- 
dustrious, honest,  manly,  high-minded,  upright,  prompt, 
whole-souled  business  community  on  the  globe  than  we 
have  here.  Fix  your  mark  high.  Acquire  at  once  a 
character  for  integrity,  and  for  the  quickness,  punctual- 
ity, neatness,  and  high  manliness  of  all  your  transactions. 
With  the  urgency  of  such  motives  upon  you  as  the  Gos- 
pel supplies,  you  must  not  be  content  with  small  things. 
In  such  a  city  as  this,  aim  directly  at  becoming  first-rate 
business  men.  Let  it  be  a  point  of  honor  with  you, 
whether  you  are  in  the  lecture-room,  or  in  the  warehouse, 
or  in  the  mechanic's  shop,  or  in  the  profession  of  the  law 
or  of  medicine,  that  you  will  seek  for  distinction,  for  in- 
tegrity, and  proficiency  in  your  particular  calling.  The 
apostle  has  told  us,  "  It  is  good  to  be  zealously  affected 
always  in  a  good  thing." 

II.  Daniel  is  the  young  man's  model  for  earnestness 
in  his  religion.  His  whole  life  illustrates  the  criminality 
of  indifference  to  such  a  subject  as  religion.  I  have 
sought  to  make  these  Lectures  u  Tracts  for  the  Times,"  as 
it  respects  the  duties  of  young  men  to  their  country  and 
their  God.     I  have  sought  to  make  you  somewhat  ac- 


CHARACTER  OF  OUR  AGE.  335 

quainted  with  some  of  the  modes  of  attack  upon  your 
religious  faith  most  to  be  feared,  and  to  put  you  in  some 
measure  on  your  guard  against  the  phases  of  infidelity 
and  skepticism  peculiar  to  our  day.  It  is  true  that  hu- 
man nature  is  every  where  the  same ;  and  it  is  also  true 
that  the  world,  for  at  least  some  six  or  seven  thousand 
years,  has  not  furnished  us  with  a  single  experimental 
fact  going  to  show  that  it  is  possible,  by  any  process  of 
development,  to  make  a  world  without  a  Creator ;  and 
surely  the  experiment  has  been  continued  long  enough. 
And  if  now  our  savans,  with  all  the  light  of  the  "  Ves- 
tiges of  Creation  "  and  of  the  nebular  hypothesis,  are 
not  able  to  make  one  spider,  nor  to  make  a  human  being 
out  of  a  monkey,  we  may  be  excused  for  holding  still  to 
our  old  orthodox  belief,  that  "  in  the  beginning  God  cre- 
ated the  heaven  and  the  earth,"  "  and  all  that  in  them 
is."  Every  age  has  its  characteristics  in  philosophy, 
science,  morals  and  religion.  Our  age  is  grossly  mate- 
rial, and  yet  ethereal.  For  while  we  live  amidst  intense 
pursuits  of  the  things  that  perish,  our  received  opinions 
of  common  sense,  and  of  man's  relations  and  hopes,  are 
violently  attacked  from  the  airy  heights  of  a  dreamy,  im- 
personal, impalpable,  soi  disant  philosophy.  The  poets, 
essayists,  and  historians  of  the  age  generally,  and  not  a 
little  of  every  species  of  our  popular  literature,  is  a  mass 
of  namby-pambyism  that  enfeebles  the  intellect,  cor- 
rupts the  imagination,  and  destroys  the  soul.  And  these 
are  all  the  more  dangerous  because  they  are  made  chiefly 
by  professed  lovers  of  truth.  By  giving  specious  titles 
to  things,  and  wrong  names  to  errors,  their  batteries  are 
masked,  their  shots  are  from  air-guns  that  makeno  noise, 


336  LECTURES  ON"  DANIEL. 

and  their  deathly  blows  are  not  seen  till  the  victim  is 
past  hope. 

In  an  age  so  impetuous  and  vigorous,  the  only  men  for 
the  times  are  young  men,  who  by  education,  discipline, 
and  noble  bearing,  are  up  to  the  exigencies  of  their  age. 
Such  men  are  always  Bible  made ;  their  characters  are 
formed  after  Bible  models,  and  their  conduct  regulated 
by  Bible  principles.  In  seeking  a  home,  therefore,  in  a 
strange  city,  be  sure  to  carry  with  you  the  evidences  of 
your  church  membership,  and  call  at  once  on  the  minis 
ter  of  the  place  whether  God  leads  you.  Don't  put  it 
off  till  you  wear  out  your  certificate  by  carrying  it  in 
your  pocket.  Engage  at  once  in  the  Sabbath  school  and 
other  approved  agencies,  by  which  to  encourage  and 
comfort  the  servant  of  God  in  whose  congregation  your 
residence  may  be,  Never  was  there  an  age  or' a  country 
where  pious  young  men  had  such  a  destiny  in  their 
hands  as  in  this  age  of  the  United  States.  It  is  intelli- 
gent, Bible-formed  piety  that  will  save  this  continent 
from  paganism  and  papal  priestcraft,  and  that  only, 
Nothing  else  will  do.  Every  possible  motive  urges  you 
not  to  be  bigots,  churchmen,  or  sectarians,  but  earnest, 
intelligent,  high-minded,  whole-hearted  Christians.  In 
ages  past,  and  even  now,  there  are  too  many  pious  people 
living  in  the  strait-jackets  of  little  prejudices,  and  lying 
on  the  Procrustean  beds  of  their  own  short  and  narrow 
creeds.  But  the  Gospel  is  not  a  yoke  of  ceremonies  or 
dogmas.  It  is  liberty,  life,  and  salvation.  The  age  calls 
you  not  to  be  sour-faced,  fault-finding,  complaining  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  but  cheerful,  hopeful,  active,  earnest, 
pious  disciples  of  the  one  and  only  great  Kedeemer.   The 


TAKE  DANIEL  AS  YOUR  MODEL.         337 

great  Napoleon  was  told  that  all  that  France  wanted  to 
make  her  the  greatest  nation  in  the  world  was  mothers. 
It  is  true  that  intelligent,  pious,  praying  mothers  are 
the  greatest  benefactors  of  any  age  or  country.  Never 
can  you  too  highly  appreciate  the  blessings  of  religious 
culture. 

III.  In  conclusion,  then,  we  desire  you  to  take  Daniel 
as  your  model.  Study  him  in  all  the  completeness  of  his 
character  as  a  man,  a  prophet,  and  a  statesman ;  as  to  his 
capacities  and  their  improvement ;  his  habits  and  busi- 
ness traits.  Forget  not  his  steadfast  adherence  to  prin- 
ciple, seen  in  his  life-long  devotion  to  the  law  and  service 
of  his  God ;  and  that,  too, '  amidst  the  most  appalling 
persecutions.  He  served  God  in  little  things  as  perse  ver- 
ingly  and  as  fully  as  in  great  things.  With  him  true 
principle  was  ever  and  always  the  only  expediency. 
Varied  and  oft  repeated  as  were  his  trials,  he  had  but 
one  exile,  which  was  to  obey  his  God  unhesitatingly  and 
cheerfully.  The  result  he  committed  to  Him  whom  he 
served.  His  enemies  left  no  stone  unturned  by  which  to 
compass  his  ruin ;  but  always  did  they  fail.  They  flat- 
tered, they  threatened,  and  they  tried  to  overreach  him ; 
but  no  cause  for  his  accusation  could  be  justly  found 
against  him,  either  as  to  his  activity  and  capacity,  or 
honesty  in  business,  nor  as  to  his  loyalty.  It  was  at  last 
only  in  regard  to  his  religion  that  they  dared  to  attack 
him.  His  heroism  was  of  the  noblest  kind.  It  overcame 
the  most  appalling  difficulties  in  the  best  of  causes,  and 
from  the  purest  of  motives.  And  was  not  Daniel  right  in 
his  steadfast  adherence  to  the  law  and  service  of  his  God  ? 

From  whom  had  he  his  being?     By  whom  had  he  been 

22 


338  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

preserved  all  his  life  long,  and  exalted  to  favor  in  various 
kingdoms  ?  To  whom  was  he  indebted  for  the  revelations 
of  the  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar  as  well  as  for  the  ex- 
planation of  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  %  And  are  you 
not  indebted  to  the  Creator  likewise  for  your  existence 
and  well  being  ?  Is  not  the  God  of  Daniel  your  Maker, 
Preserver,  and  Benefactor,  and  will  He  not  soon  be  your 
Judge  %  Have  you  not  ^vour  health,  education,  reason, 
speech,  and  civil,  social,  and  religious  status  from  Him  ? 
Ought  not  the  creature  to  worship  the  Creator  ?  Ought 
not  the  beneficiary  to  praise  the  Benefactor?  And 
ought  not  the  sinner  to  seek  reconciliation  with  his 
Sovereign,  and  acceptance  with  his  Judge  ?  There  is  then 
no  fanaticism  in  religion  like  that  of  Daniel.  It  is  the 
highest  reason,  and  the  only  true  heroism,  to  fear  God 
and  keep  his  commandments. 

Like  Daniel,  then,  let  me  urge  you,  in  closing  this 
series  of  discourses,  to  rely  upon  God  with  an  unfaltering 
trust  in  his  providence.  Daniel's  heroism  was  such  as 
the  wrorld  can  neither  give,  nor  appreciate,  nor  take  away. 
It  was  godly.  He  was  decided,  open,  and  bold  in  his 
avowal  of  the  God  of  his  fathers  as  his  God.  He  again 
and  again  declared  that  he  could  not  deny  or  forsake  the 
religion  of  his  fathers.  Nothing  could  induce  him  to 
conform  to  the  fashionable,  court  religion  of  Babylon. 
And  his  professions  were  his  principles.  He  had  not  a 
mere  form  of  godliness,  but  also  its  spirit  and  power. 
He  was  a  Jew  inwardly.  He  belonged  to  the  true  circum- 
cision. Hence  he  trusted  in  his  God,  and  relied  on  Him 
in  the  face  of  the  most  appalling  and  cruel  punishment. 
He  believed  in  his  heart,  and  confessed  with  his  mouth, 


CONFESS  CHRIST  ALWAYS.  339 

and  put  his  trust  in  the  true  God,  and  he  was  not  dis- 
appointed. He  would  not  take  any  situation,  nor  keep 
any  place,  upon  the  condition  either  expressed  or  implied, 
that  he  must  depart  in  the  smallest  matter  from  the  in- 
junctions of  the  law  of  his  God.  Like  him,  then,  take 
care  never  to  offend  your  conscience,  never  shrink  from 
duty,  because  of  difficulties ;  never  tamper  with  convic- 
tions ;  never  forget  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  has 
said  :  "  Fear  not  them  who  can  kill  the  body,  but  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do,  but  rather  fear  Him, 
who,  after  He  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell.'' 
Fix  the  resolve  deep  in  your  souls  that  you  will  abide  by 
well  formed  convictions,  cost  what  it  may.  If  you  must 
suffer  persecution  for  confessing  Christ,  be  it  so.  Confess 
Him  cheerfully  amidst  all  persecution  that  may  arise  to 
you  on  that  account.  Bear  up  against  all  temptations  to 
deny  Him,  by  remembering  his  gracious  promise,  that 
He  will  confess  you  before  his  Father  and  his  holy  angels. 
"  Him  that  honoreth  me,  I  will  honor.  He  that  despiseth 
me,  shall  be  lightly  esteemed."  To  be  like  Daniel,  you 
must  have  a  personal  interest  in  the  God  of  your  pious 
fathers.  You  must,  by  sincere  penitence  and  faith,  appro- 
priate Him  to  yourself  as  your  God.  And  to  do  this,  you 
must,  like  Daniel,  be  regular,  punctual,  fervent,  and 
persevering  in  prayer  and  in  the  study  of  God's  revealed 
will.  The  strength  and  rationality  of  Daniel's  character 
is  found  in  the  divine  imprimatur  of  his  deliverance 
from  the  lions  :  Because  he  believed  his  God.  His  edu- 
cation had  been  a  good  one.  He  had  been  instructed  in 
his  early  years  in  the  law  of  his  God,  and  he  had  kept 
himself  from  all  defilement.     He  never  read  sickly,  sen- 


340  LECTURES  ON  DANIEL. 

timental,  moon-stricken  novels  and  essays,  nor  gazed  on 
licentious  pictures,  nor  consorted  with  profligate  "  fast 
boys  about  town,"  nor  done  that  which  he  would  have 
been  ashamed  to  tell  his  father,  nor  found  where  the  ap- 
proach of  his  mother's  footfall  would  have  made  him  take 
to  flight.  He  was  a  diligent  student  of  the  Scriptures 
of  God.  But  you  have  advantages  even  greater  than  he 
had.  Your  age  and  country  are  in  advance  of  his.  You 
are  a  freeman.  He  was  a  captive.  You  have  Christ  and 
his  Apostles,  in  addition  to  Moses,  the  Psalms,  and  the 
Prophets,  which  he  had.  But  all  will  be  of  no  avail,  but 
rather  aggravate  your  guilt,  if  you  believe  not  in  the  Son 
of  God,  and  receive  Him  as  the  only  Bedeemer.  Make 
God  your  portion.  Serve  Him  with  all  your  soul.  Trust 
in  Him,  and  to  the  end  of  the  earth  He  will  be  your 
friend.  And  to  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  be  everlasting  praise.     Amen. 


THE   END. 


foiuvsitsiTrj 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   LIBRARY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


iw'  3w  1934 


30m-6,'14 


j  1  Aj 

54 


^C  40733 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


